High drama, but also disappointment, in diverse and exciting pacesetter matches in the Youth Division
Nine matches and nine different compelling results: At the Maccabi Tel Aviv Youth Division not just another Saturday by any means. To start with the Under-19s, who triumphed 1-4 at Hapoel Petach Tikva and widened the gap at the top of the national U19 Premier League table to four points. The club's Under-17s, also league leaders going into their home tie against Beitar Jerusalem, opened the scoring in an action-packed second half courtesy of Roy Ronen. The visitors equalised just a minute later, but Lenny Aharon restored Maccabi Tel Aviv "Oded"'s one-goal advantage in the 52nd minute. Unfortunately for the home side, Beitar Jerusalem drew level with just four minutes left on the clock and the 2-2 result means the Under-17s had to share the points with their rivals from the nation's capital.
Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eli Fuchs", the club's Under-16s, held on to their top spot in the table despite suffering their first loss of the season to Maccabi Petach Tikva, their closest rival in the nationwide U16 Southern District table. They opened the match brightly with a goal from Prince Thomas after only six minutes, but two quick goals at the start of the second half turned the match around in favour of the visitors as they narrowed Maccabi's lead at the top of the table to two points. The club's Under-15 Team 1 suffered a similar fate, losing their first outing of the season 0-1 at home to their nearest rivals Beitar Jerusalem, who narrowed the gap at the top of the nationwide U15 Central District table to one point. The visitors scored a goal in the 20th minute and the charges of head coach Eyal Tzachi were unable to conjure up a reply. The Under-15 Team 2, with head coach Erez Belfer at the helm, bounced back from an early two-goal deficit to draw level with Beitar Tubruk, their nearest competitors in the table. Eyal Chen and Amit Glazer were the Under-15 goalscorers.
Head coach Ori David's Under-14 Team South registered an impressive 3-0 victory at Kiryat Shalom training ground against Ironi Modi'in. Osher Davida opened the scoring and David Degu followed up with a brace. Under-14 Team North returned on Saturday with the opposite result, losing 3-0 away to Tzi'iray Taibe FC. Maccabi's Under-13 Team North also suffered defeat on the road, 2-0 to Hapoel Kiryat Ono, but the Under-13 Team South registered the Division's finest result of the weekend, overwhelming Hapoel Jerusalem 7-0 at Kiryat Shalom.
