Maccabi's U17s pass Maccabi Haifa into the top spot in the table after beating Hapoel Haifa
A second consecutive stormy winter weekend once again left its mark on Israel's youth fixtures, with only the Under-19s and Under-17s seeing their matches given the go ahead. For Maccabi's Under-17s that meant a trip up the coast to the Kiryat Haim training complex to face Hapoel Haifa in matchday 20 of the national U17 Premier League, where Maccabi Tel Aviv "Oded" were just a point behind league leaders Maccabi Haifa. "Oded" went into the match on a run of five consecutive victories, and with the number five apparently still on their minds coaches Eliezer Ben Aharon and Gadi Brumer's lads conjured up an additional five goals in a convincing 0-5 victory that extends that run to six.
The impressive scoreline belies a somewhat laboured opening by the visitors as they struggled until the closing minutes of the first half to find the net. But by the time the whistle blew, "Oded" had already jumped to a 0-2 lead, courtesy of Lenny Aharon, his second of the campaign, and Almog Eylon, who has already scored 14 goals this season, some of them with the Under-16s. After the restart "Oded" was even more prolific. Substitute Ittimar Shaviro scored two goals in five second-half minutes just after the hour mark and captain Tomer Altman put the icing on the 0-5 victory two minutes from time. And while "Oded" were winning, league rivals Maccabi Haifa were drawing their Saturday fixture, enabling Maccabi's Under-17s to regain the top spot in the national U17 Premier League table.
