Head coach Ziv Arie's Under-19s caught up with the rest of the Youth Premier League on Tuesday, playing their fourth league match of the season against Beitar Tubruk. Eliel Peretz scored the equaliser in a 1-1 draw
Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" added a point to their season's total during an intensive week that will have seen them playing three difficult matches. Between beating Ashdod FC last Saturday and hosting Maccabi Netanya this coming week-end, head coach Ziv Arie's Under-19s played a home tie on Tuesday against Beitar Tubruk. After a period of early probing from both sides it was the visitors who first went into action. Tubruk's Jeffrey Nissembaum nearly managed to take advantage of Maccabi keeper Sahar Hasson drifting off his line but missed from close range. At the other end, Maccabi striker Amit Farhi missed a golden opportunity after defender Ofek Barzani lifted him a clever ball inside the area. Just short of the half hour mark the referee disallowed a Maccabi goal for offside and the half ended with neither side on the scoreboard.
After the restart the pace of the match quickened and after attempts at both ends of the pitch it was the guests who were first rewarded for their efforts. The energetic Jeffrey Nissembaum crossed into the Maccabi area and "Shachar" defender Shachar Fiben failed in his attempts to deflect the ball to safety and sent it into his own net. Beitar Tubruk tried to exploit the subsequent disarray in the Maccabi back four but the lads quickly regained their composure and fifteen minutes before time "Shachar" found an equaliser. Striker Sohil Armeli, having just come off the bench to replace Barzani, passed through to fellow substitute and striker Yonatan Cohen, whose strike off the woodwork was prodded into the Tubruk net by midfielder Eliel Peretz.
Throughout the rest of the match, "Shachar" continued to chase the winning goal but struggled to pose any real threat to the opposition defence and in the end had to settle for the one point. After five league games, head coach Ziv Arie's charges find themselves seventh in the table with seven points resulting from two wins, two losses and a draw. Next Saturday "Shachar" will return home for a second encounter with a Netanya based team, namesakes Maccabi Netanya, who last Saturday finished a tie with Maccabi Haifa in a goalless draw. You'll find live updates from the match on the Maccabi Tel Aviv official Facebook page.
