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In form players Sharon Ziso and Lanre Kehinde combined to give Maccabi's U19s a 3-1 victory over Maccabi Petach Tikva

After a disappointing mid-week 4-2 loss to Hapoel Rishon Lezion saw them exit from the prestigious U19 State Cup competition, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" returned to league duties for an away match against Maccabi Petach Tikva hoping to maintain their run of good form that has seen them win six of their last seven league encounters. Maccabi Petach Tikva on the other hand were hoping a win would help them off the bottom of the table. Maccabi started well and were ahead 2-0 at halftime from a brace by midfielder Sharon Ziso. In the second half the home side pulled one back but Nigerian striker Lanre Kehinde's fifth goal since his arrival at Maccabi in January sealed Maccabi's 3-1 triumph.

After his lads played 120 minutes in their Cup tie against Hapoel Rishon Lezion last Wednesday, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" head coach Amir Turgeman made a number of changes to his first eleven. After a two month lay-off, Shachar Fiban returned to the right side of the defence, Dudi Aviv started as holding midfielder and Dean Akafi opened as midfielder wide on the left. But it was midfielder Sharon Ziso, who has started in the last 14 games in both league and Cup matches, who set the pace in the first half. He scored his second brace in as many league outings to bring his total to seven goals in all competitions and Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" to a promising 2-0 advantage at halftime.

After the restart the home side made several attempts to get back into the match and finally succeeded, but with fresh memories of their own mid-week comeback from two goals down against Hapoel Rishon Lezion in the Cup, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" were in no mood to see their opponents from Petach Tikva repeat that achievement. And indeed, not only did they keep their opponents at bay, they added a goal courtesy of Nigerian striker Lanre Kehinde, his fifth goal since joining the club this winter, and ended the match as 3-1 winners to complete the double against Maccabi Petach Tikva that began 1-0 at home in the very first matchweek of this year's league season.

The victory leaves Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" in second place in the national U19 Premier League, seven points behind Maccabi Haifa, who also won on Saturday at Rishon Lezion. Next Saturday Maccabi's Under-19s will host Hapoel Haifa at the Kiryat Shalom training ground in Tel Aviv.

Line-up: Gal Tuvali, Shachar Feban, Osher Abu, Daniel Shvarzboim, Shaun Goldberg, Yarden Pinto, Dudi Aviv, Dean Akafi, Sharon Ziso, Dor Jan, Lanre Kehinde