Every team in Maccabi's Youth Division played State Cup ties on Saturday – and they all won!
From the oldest kids to the youngest, every team in Maccabi Tel Aviv's Youth Division played State Cup ties on Saturday and all of them advanced to the next round. Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" beat Hapoel Jerusalem 2-0 to advance to the fifth round of the U19 State Cup competition. Coaches Eliezer Ben Aharon and Gadi Brumer's Under-17s, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Oded" faced stiff competition in their last-sixteen away encounter against fellow title contenders Maccabi Petach Tikva. Omer Lakao opened the scoring for Maccabi in the second half, but the home side equalised in the final moments to send the match into extra time. It was there, seven minutes from time, that Or Dassa scored the winner for Maccabi Tel Aviv, sending "Oded" into the U17 State Cup quarter finals.
The club's Under-16s, Maccabi "Eli Fuchs", had an even greater drama in store as their first-round contest at Hapoel Ramat Gan ended deadlocked at 2-2 after extra time, with Yarin Sharabi and Desalin Balacho providing the Maccabi goals. But in the ensuing penalty shoot-out, the hosts missed their last shot and head coach Shlomi Mitelka's lads emerged 4-3 victors sending them through to round two.
The club's Under-15 Team 1, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eldad", had considerably less trouble in advancing to the quarter finals of the U15 State Cup competition. Head coach Eyal Tzachi's charges returned from Maccabi Kfar Yona convincing 0-6 winners. Leon Gardashov and Rotem Ziv both scored braces for the visitors, Adir Hardon and Raz Hadar added on. The Under 15 Team 2 followed suit, defeating Hapoel Nazareth Elite by the same scoreline to join "Eldad" in the quarter-finals. Yam Ben Yehuda scored a brace, Eyal Chen, Guy Ben Harush, Ari Yitzhak and Ron Rahimi all scored individual goals.
The next round of the U14 State Cup competition will also see two Maccabi Tel Aviv competitors. Team South reached the last sixteen with an impressive 7-0 win over Maccabi Emek Heffer. Tal Yagudaev scored twice for the home side, Osher Davida, David Degu, Omri Ram, Gil Ben Shlush and Bar Cohen provided the remaining five goals. Team North were more modest winners, beating Maccabi Herzliya away 0-1 courtesy of an Asaf Hershko winner.
Another Maccabi Youth Division team scheduled for State Cup action in Herzliya were the club's Under-13 Team North, but the match was postponed due to damage caused by the weekend's bad weather. Team South had better luck with the weather, and their match, as they rolled past Hapoel Mata Asher 5-0 at the Kiryat Shalom training ground to advance to round four of the U13 State Cup competition.
Other Youth Division teams that won and moved up a round in State Cup competitions were both of Maccabi's Under-12 and Under-10 teams.
