Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-16s continue to impress, the Under-17s drew at home to Hapoel Ramat Gan
In an exciting match full of turnarounds, Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-17s left the pitch somewhat disappointed after drawing 3-3 against Hapoel Ramat Gan. Head coach Eliezer Ben Aharon's lads, who maintain their grip on second place in the national Under-17 Premier League table, went ahead courtesy of a goal by Ben Shugal just past the twenty minute mark. The striker's seventh goal since joining the squad kept Maccabi Tel Aviv "Oded" in the lead until three minutes before the break, when Ramat Gan found an equaliser. A tumultuous second half saw Raz Yitzhak restore "Oded"'s advantage before the visitors scored twice to take the lead for the first time in the match. But it was "Oded"'s Gabi Kanichowsky who had the last word just before the three-quarter hour mark and his fourth goal in Maccabi kit ended the scoring with the sides drawn 3-3. The result increased league leaders Maccabi Haifa's lead at the top of the Under-17 table to five points with six matches left to play this season.
The club's Under-16s, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eli Fuchs", continued their run of good form with a convincing 5-1 victory over municipal neighbours Bnei Yehuda. Strikers Omer Lakou and Eylon Almog scored a brace each and fellow striker Abed Alsalam Salame added the fifth, while keeper Omer Katz contributed to the rout by saving a penalty that would have seen Bnei Yehuda draw level at 2-2.
Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eldad", the club's Under-15 Team 1, hosted Maccabi Haifa at the Kiryat Shalom training ground for a match that ended in a goalless draw. Head coach Haim Siton's Team 2, who will appear in the prestigious State Cup final in the middle of next week, suffered only their third league defeat in twenty-five matches, yielding to Maccabi Petach Tikva 2-3. Desalin Balacho and Prince Thomas both scored for the home side.
Maccabi's Under-14 Team South beat Hapoel Ramat Hasharon 0-1 away courtesy of a Leon Gardashov goal to stay top of the nationwide Under-14 League Central District table. Head coach Arik Levi's Team North drew 1-1 against Maccabi Haifa at Kiryat Shalom courtesy of an equalising second half goal by Eyal Chen.
Last but most certainly not least, Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-13 Team South registered the Youth Division's highest tally of the week-end by engulfing Hapoel Rishon Lezion West by the eye-opening margin of 10 goals to nil.