Maccabi Tel Aviv Youth Team head coach Arie Ziv's lads opened their 2013/14 campaign with a 3-1 home victory over Hapoel Ra'anana, with Daniel Gretz scoring the opener. Ra'anana's Mahmud Sachar levelled for the visitors before Dor Jan and Omri Perl put the match out of reach
Less than a week after winning the Youth League "Super Cup" by a 3-1 margin, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" repeated the feat against Hapoel Ra'anana in the opening matchweek of the Youth Premier League. After an uninspiring first half display that saw the teams drawn 1-1 at half time, Maccabi Youth Team head coach Arie Ziv's lads defied the heat and returned to form after the break, with forward Dor Jan returning the advantage to his side just after the restart and midfielder Omri Perl sealing the win close to the final whistle.
Maccabi's Under-19s dominated the opening moments of the match and translated that field advantage to a numerical advantage just after the quarter hour mark. Omri Perl broke down the right flank and crossed a ball towards the Ra'anana goalkeeper, where fellow midfielder Daniel Gretz got a toe to it and bundled it into the net. But the 1-0 advantage lasted just seven minutes as Ra'anana's Neev Katz sent a long ball past the entire Maccabi defence to forward Mahmud Sachar, who struck low into Maccabi keeper Sahar Hason's corner to even the score. The equaliser breathed new life into the guests' industry and their domination in midfield made them a constant threat until the half-time whistle. That threat included a shot by ex-"Shachar" youngster Sagi Dror, who found himself alone in front of goal facing Hason, who somehow saved his effort.
The restart saw a very different "Shachar" take the field and within ten minutes striker Dor Jan returned the advantage to Maccabi. Midfielder Dor Peretz, who came off the bench at half-time, floated a ball towards striker Amit Farhi in the area. The Ra'anana keeper came off his line but his parry bounced off his own defence enabling Jan to bring the ball down and slam it into the net off the crossbar. From that point on Maccabi was in complete control and five minutes from time a third goal was added to their total. Recovering from a missed chance just five minutes earlier, Omri Perl lunged to meet a cross by defender Guy Aviv and banged home from close range. In injury time Dor Peretz hit the opposition woodwork with a hard shot, but the final result remained unaltered.
The 3-1 victory over Hapoel Ra'anana saw Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar"'s 2013/14 campaign get off to a good start and leaves them sharing second spot in the Youth Premier League table with Ashdod FC. Their next match will see them squaring off against last season's league and Cup double winners Maccabi Haifa, whom they just defeated in the Youth League "Super Cup" last Wednesday. No doubt they'll be hoping to get the same result once again.
