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“The May Report” - Katanga’s Father-Son Soccer Match

It was with great anticipation that once again Katanga members gathered at Caulfield Park on Sunday the 10th of December for the annual Fathers v Sons Soccer game. Before kick-off, an official Father induction ceremony was performed for Barak Begleiter, our most recent father, who qualified a few weeks ago with the birth of little Jake. After a few minor selection adjustments with Mendi Slowoditz, Isaac Berkovits & Ezra May becoming honorary fathers for the day, the two sides lined up. The Fathers appeared imposing with their age, height and weight advantage and looked more professional with the superbly kitted out Eitan Epstein and Yossi Franck, but the Sons possessed speed, enthusiasm and stamina.

The game began with the Sons full of running with the likes of Menchie & Arieh Schneir and Eli May displaying their foot skills and Eliezer & P.C. Leibowitz being a constant threat up forward. Rafi Goodman, Yoel May, Ezra & Benyomin Susskind and Osher & Betzalel Broh provided a very capable defensive unit not allowing the Fathers any freedom in front of goal.

Menchie Schneir for the Sons opened the scoring, however it was not long after that the Fathers evened up through a controversial goal awarded to Yossi Franck. The ball appeared perilously high and was lucky to just creep under the imaginary cross-bar. The game then continued to ebb and flow without much success for either side as both defences held up strong. However just before half-time, the Sons scored again through Menchie Schneir, who with 2 first half goals gave the Sons a 2-1 lead.

The match resumed after a half-time break for drinks and regaining one's breath with Yirmie Elkus remaining a pillar of strength with his fast and constant running. Barak also began throwing his weight around and all of a sudden the fathers started to develop a bit of system in their play. Tom May remained solid as goalie and Steven Goldman, David Amzalak and Daniel and Mark Franck started providing some forward momentum. The Fathers however failed to capitalise on the scoreboard, with Yossi Franck remaining convinced that he was being starved of quality ball to put away.

Throughout the game, the spirit of the Elkus family was maintained through an inspired performance from the Gottleibs. Jack played the Harry 'raging bull' role to perfection with a perfect bump on a silky smooth Eli May while Yoram was his equal for the sons. Many a time did the clash of the Gottleibs result in fearsome body clashes and the ball miles out of play. Yoram, playing barefoot, reminded us all that expensive Nikes don't necessarily make the man as he repeatedly kicked the ball far and wide.

It was the Sons, however, that scored next to race to a 3-1 lead after a smooth passage of play down the wing from Danny Shaefer and Arieh Schneir and Amiel Gottleib up forward resulting in a goal from Akiva Epstein. This sparked the Fathers into a more inspired effort culminating in Jack Gottleib grabbing one back for the Fathers with another controversial goal - spilling the ball over the goal line while the ball was in the hands of the goalie. It was now 3-2 and a real match was on hand. The Fathers however could not maintain their momentum and it was P.C. Leibowitz on the rebound who popped one through to seal it for the Sons. The match was now effectively over as the Sons had managed to withstand all that the Fathers, specifically Jack Gottleib, could throw at them while maintaining their composure to run away with the game 4 -2.

As the match concluded, people ran to devour the Burger Shack hotdogs and chips, courtesy of Katanga, with a thankyou to Ronny Jacobs. People commented that if they only showed the same level of focus and commitment to getting the ball as they did when running to get their food, the match would have been played at a faster tempo.

Many thanks must got to Leible Szeiwicz for organising the event and to the Franck and Sziewicz families for providing much welcome sideline support. Most people commented how enjoyable the day was and how it should become a more regular event. However, by Monday morning with sore legs and stiff backs, most thought it would be a good few moths before they were ready to play again.

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