Maccabi Tel Aviv's Youth Division harvested their fourth trophy of the season after the Under 16s comprehensively beat Maccabi Haifa in the finals of the Youth National Cup. The Under 15s were not so lucky
Youth teams from Maccabi Tel Aviv participated in two finals of the Youth National Cup Competition yesterday at the new and handsome grounds at "Beit Hanivcharim" in Shfayim near Tel Aviv. In both cases the rivals were Maccabi Haifa and first up were the Under 16s who, after the Under 14s, Under 12s and the Under 10s, became the fourth team this season from Maccabi's Youth Division to raise a youth team National IFA Cup. Though still trailing in their league for the championship, Maccabi's Under 16s left in absolutely no doubt their extraordinary abilities in the Cup competition by beating their Maccabi Haifa rivals by a convincing 3-0 margin.
From the opening whistle head coach Eliezer Ben Aharon's lads pressed forward and threatened the Haifa goal, pressure that paid off just seven minutes after kickoff. After seeing two attempts in the area saved, it was third time a charm for Omri Haremetti who shot past the opposition keeper to put Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eli Fuchs" 1-0 ahead. And at the half hour mark, after other MTA efforts had hit the woodwork, captain Elon Yerushalmi curled a shot into the upper corner of the Haifa net to double the advantage at 2-0.
After the restart Maccabi Haifa tried to get back into the match and hit the woodwork a number of times themselves, but in the end it was the yellow half of this Maccabi encounter that got on the scoreboard. Raz Yitschak rounded the Haifa keeper and dinked into the net his 18th goal of the season in all competitions to round off the scoring at 3-0 and hand Maccabi Tel Aviv Under 16s their first silverware of the season. Moments after the final whistle captain Elon Yerushalmi was raising the Cup at Shfayim to start the celebrations of a fourth Youth National Cup for the Maccabi Tel Aviv Youth Division. On Saturday Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under 16s will return to league duty with a view to narrowing the eight point advantage held by National U16 South League leaders Maccabi Petah Tikva.
In the second final of the day, Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under 15s also faced their green Maccabi nemesis from Haifa. Unfortunately for Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eldad", the smiles at the end of this final were all green. Five minutes into the match things were looking considerably more yellow, as MTA's Ofri Mashata found the net to put Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eldad" in front at 1-0. And head coach Shlomi Mitelka's lads continued to threaten the opposition goal in the first half but unfortunately without converting any of the chances that came their way.
Five minutes from the restart Maccabi Haifa were already on the scoreboard after Omer Sadeh found the net and levelled the match at 1-1, a score that carried the match into 20 minutes of extra time after the regulation 80 minutes saw no further alterations. Unfortunately, Maccabi's Under 15s were on the wrong end of a drama that peaked at the last play of the game, just as a penalty shoot-out seemed inevitable. In a move that saw the Cup slip away from them, a disappointed Maccabi Tel Aviv let Omer Sadeh head in a cross to give Maccabi Haifa a 2-1 win and the right to raise the Under 15 Youth National Cup trophy.
