Another victorious Saturday for Maccabi's youth teams, with the U17s and 16s leading the way
In addition to the Under-19s, who yesterday recorded their fifth consecutive win, the remainder of Maccabi Tel Aviv's youth teams also continued in good form this Saturday. The club's Under-17s, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Oded", faced a tricky away encounter with Maccabi Petach Tikva and returned home with an impressive 0-4 victory. Strikers Roy Ronen and Almog Eylon scored in the first half, defender Ron Gabay and striker Or Dasa doubled the visitors' advantage after the restart. The victory maintains the status quo at the top of the national U17 Premier League table, with "Oded" trailing leaders Maccabi Haifa by a single point.
Another important away win was booked by the club's Under-16s, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eli Fuchs". They travelled to the nation's capital for an intriguing encounter with Beitar Jerusalem, where they left it till late on, thirteen minutes from time, to break a goalless deadlock courtesy of a Desalin Balacho goal. Not leaving anything to chance, head coach Shlomi Mitelka's team added a second, with Netanel Malka taking the credit just three minutes before the final whistle. For the Under-16s it was their twelfth victory of the season, one that left them in firm command atop the nationwide U16 League Southern District table.
The club's Under-15 Team 1, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eldad", also stayed top of their nationwide U15 League Central District with a 3-0 home win against Hapoel Kiryat Ono. Niv Aboutbul, Idan Zioni and Alon Strozberg were the goalscorers as head coach Eyal Tzachi's lads went on to win their tenth victory in eleven league outings. Under-15 Team 2 head coach Erez Belfer has particular reason to smile after his team overwhelmed Maccabi Barkai away 1-7. Shachar Eyelon scored a hat-trick, Eyal Chen a brace and Tamir Glezer and Ari Yitzhak added the other two in the one-sided rout.
Head coach Ori David's Under-14 Team South came from behind to beat Hapoel Petch Tikva 1-5 on second-half goals by Bar Cohen (hat-trick), Eden Silam and Roy Benvenisti. Head coach Nissim Dvash's Under-14s Team North also won handsomely, a 4-0 home triumph over Hapoel Ra'anana courtesy of goals by Ofir Scayek, Dan Lugasi, Raveh Asayag and Asaf Hershko. Head coach Asaf Profeta's Under-13 Team South squared off against one of the other strong sides in the nationwide U13 League Central District, Hapoel Rishon Lezion, and the result was a 3-3 draw.
