MTA's U19s will open their season at home against Beitar Tubruk and travel to last year's runners-up Maccabi Haifa in matchweek 15
Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar", national U19 Premier League champions two years running, are in high gear preparing for the 2012/13 season. With three weeks still remaining before the opening matches, the draw was held yesterday for this season's U19 fixture schedule and "Shachar"'s campaign for a third straight title will begin with an intriguing tie at home against Beitar Tubruk, who in the second half of last season proved to be Maccabi's main challenger for the title. Matchweek 3 will bring to Kiryat Shalom Beitar Jerusalem and two weeks later "Shachar" will have the privilege of hosting the season's first derby against municipal archrivals Hapoel Tel Aviv.
But despite this early run of high profile fixtures, the jewel in the crown will come only at the end of the first round of fifteen matches, when Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" will head north to face Maccabi Haifa in an almost complete copy of one of last season's most exciting encounters. In last season's final round-one fixture it was runners-up from the last two seasons Maccabi Haifa who headed south to Kiryat Shalom and relinquished a two-goal lead in the last minute of a match that ended in a 2-2 draw. That last-minute effort guaranteed that "Shachar" would finish the round without loss and propel them to the top of the table, a position they would not surrender before hoisting the championship trophy at the end of the season.
But for head coach Alon Turjeman and his team, the road to a third straight championship will be full of challenges. The squad have undergone a considerable number of changes, with the likes of such key players as Roslan Bersky, Gael Margulies, Ben Ben Yair, goalkeeper Sapir Tzelviansky and team captain Yagil Biton all having moved on to the senior squad. Attempting to fill their boots will be the talented youngsters from last year's Under-17 squad, who finished the season with an impressive league and Cup double. Yesterday a number of them already joined last season's Under-19 squad and returning on-loan players for a pre-season friendly against Hapoel Rishon Lezion, which "Shachar" won at a canter 2-0.
For the full season 2012/13 Under-19 Premier League fixture list click here
