Maccabi Smashed

North Caulfield Maccabi suffered its worst loss in years when the team was hammered 0-6 by Kingston City on Monday night. The team unravelled in the second half after going into the break 0-0. The next 45 minutes was as poor a performance as anyone could remember. The match was always going to be a big challenge for the young Maccabi team, against a club in the top two on the table and boasting many well-paid, seasoned players. But Maccabi gave as good as they got in the opening stanza, and with a little more composure in front of goals could have been rewarded for their efforts with a couple of goals. At the other end, goalkeeper Brett Sacks made a couple of outstanding saves to keep the scoreline blank, and North Caulfield went into the break happy with their efforts. All that changed six minutes into the second half, when a soft free kick was given away, and a Kingston forward rose unchallenged to nod in a simple goal from just a few metres out. Just two minutes later things got even worse, when a howler of a mistake in defence allowed Kingston to walk in the easiest of goals to make it 2-0. For a brief period Maccabi threatened to get back into the match with half chances to Graham Evans and Amjad Marieh, but the contest ended mid-way through the half when yet another horrendous mistake after a Kingston throw-in allowed the home team to smash the ball into the net from close range. A dispirited Maccabi then did nothing more than go through the motions as Kingston added another three goals, twice chipping the ball over Sacks from long range, then rounding off the match with another gift after a mix-up between Sacks and Alon Esterman right on full-time. A massive challenge now faces the team to re-group ahead of a vital match against long-time rival Waverley Wanderers at Waverley on Sunday. The team will need a good result or risk getting embroiled in a relegation dogfight with teams down at the wrong end of the table. The Maccabi reserves also suffered defeat, going down 0-4 to Kingston.