Maccabi's Youth Division enjoyed an exceptional Saturday with six wins, one draw and just a single loss
Saturday saw the entire Maccabi Tel Aviv Youth Division in action, from the Under-19s on down. The club's Under-17s, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eldad" hosted a difficult opponent at Kiryat Shalom training ground, Ironi Kiryat Shmona, who demonstrated surprising skill, especially in the first half. It was "Eldad" that got off to an explosive start, scoring in the first minute courtesy of Almog Eylon. The visitors however were not intimidated and quickly turned the match around with goals in the 15th and 17th minutes, and maintained their advantage until the half-time whistle. Maccabi replied after the restart with two quick goals, Omer Lakao on 45 minutes and Shay Golan four minutes later, to take a 3-2 lead and from there they never looked back. In the closing moments "Eldad" added a fourth courtesy of Ittimar Shaviro and the 4-2 victory kept them atop the national U17 Premier League with seven wins and two draws in nine outings.
Another Maccabi Youth Division team perched on top of their league are coaches Shlomi Mitelka and Leon Asraf's Under-16s, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eli Fuchs". They stretched their perfect start to the season to matchweek 8 by overwhelming Ashdod FC 7-0, also at Kiryat Shalom. Desalin Balacho and Natanel Peretz scored a brace each, Rom Wasserman, Guy Dahan and Ron Zamir added the other three.
In a match also held at Kiryat Shalom, the club's Under-15 Team 1, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eldad", beat Ironi Modi'in 3-0 to hold on to the top spot in their league. "Eldad" got off to a quick start, scoring two early goals courtesy of Amit Mordehaev and Raz Hadar, and Gal Porat added a third in injury time. Under-15 Team 2 won by the same scoreline, winning away at Maccabi Herzliya 0-3. After a goalless first half, head coach Erez Belfer's lads produced three second-half goals from Amit Glezer, Yam Ben Yehuda and Eyal Chen, all scored in the first fifteen minutes. The win lifted them into second place in their league table.
Coaches Ori David and Aviv Rein's Under-14 Team South made it three wins in their first three league outings, beating Hapoel Rishon 0-2 away. Ido Shahar and Tal Binyamin Yagudaev scored the goals. The Under-14 Team North also shared in the success of the Youth Division's weekend with a 1-4 victory at Nesher FC. Yehonatan Izen scored a brace, Dan Lugasi and Asaf Hershko added the other two. The Under-13 Team South drew 1-1 at home with Section Nes Tziona and the Under-13 Team North were the only Maccabi Youth division team to lose on Saturday, succumbing to Hapoel Rishon Lezion 4-1 at "Superland".
