An injury-time penalty scored by midfielder Daniel Gretz gave Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-19s an away win at Beitar Jerusalem
Today (Tuesday), the Bayit VeGan training ground in the nation's capital saw Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" face Beitar Jerusalem in a game from matchweek 11 of the national Under-19 Premier League which was postponed due to the severe winter weather that hit the country in mid-December. After being eliminated from the State Cup competition by this same Beitar side just ten days ago, head coach Ziv Arie's charges were looking to improve on their performance. The first 40 minutes of the match provided little sign of that improvement by either club, but five minutes before half time the hosts went 1-0 up courtesy of an accurate strike by Rafal Amiel. To their credit, Maccabi recovered quickly and three minutes later a swift onslaught was crowned by a powerful level shot by striker Sohil Armeli that struck the crossbar and crossed the line for the equaliser.
After the restart Maccabi dominated and pressed the hosts in their own half, but the first real opportunity was created at the other end by Beitar striker Moshe Peretz after a quick counter attack. Next it was Maccabi defender Shawn Goldberg who came closest with a strong header at Beitar keeper Stav Shoshan, and Sohil Armeli had another go from an excellent position, only to see his effort blocked. As the game approached the 90 minute mark, the hosts had another opportunity to finish off the match but Yonatan Nitzko's strike sailed high over Maccabi keeper Sahar Hason's net. In the end it was in injury time that the score was settled, and this time in Maccabi's favour. "Shachar" striker Dor Jan was brought down in the area and midfielder Daniel Gretz stepped up to the spot to score the dramatic winner and hand Maccabi an important 1-2 away victory.
Maccabi's Under-19s maintain their grip on the fourth spot in the table and will complete their third encounter in the space of a week when they host third-placed Maccabi Petach Tikva this Saturday at Kiryat Shalom training ground in a pacesetters match that will be broadcast on Israeli sports channel Sport 5 at 12pm.
