A last-gasp goal by derby opponents Hapoel Tel Aviv hands Maccabi's U19s only their third defeat of the season
In the midst of a run of fine form that reached nine consecutive wins in all competitions, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" met Hapoel Tel Aviv on Saturday for the second derby of the U19 Premier League season. The first encounter ended in a clear 0-4 victory in "Shachar"'s favour, and with 14 points now separating the sides in the table expectations ran high in the Maccabi camp. But as we all know, in a derby expect the unexpected, especially if the home encounter is moved for security reasons to neutral territory, in this case Ramla. And that's exactly what happened, as Hapoel Tel Aviv battled from a goal down in the first half to first equalise and then, in virtually the last play of the match, score the winning goal to earn, for the time being at least, municipal bragging rights.
It took 22 first-half minutes for Maccabi to carve out their first genuine scoring opportunity, but when it came it immediately bore fruit. A clever pass by midfielder Gabriel Kanikovski sent Mavis Tchibota through on goal with only the keeper to beat and the Congolese striker coolly scored his ninth goal of the season to put "Shachar" in front 1-0. Maccabi continued to dominate but struggled to create chances, with only midfielder Sohil Armeli getting into a certain goal-scoring position, only to see his effort blocked at the last minute by the Hapoel defence. At the other end, Hapoel waited until a minute before the break to create their only chance of the half, a shot by Eden Hershkowitz that Maccabi keeper Sahar Hason, returning after Haviv Ohayon was moved up to the senior squad, saw fly just beyond his upright.
After the restart the pace of the game increased, with both sides honing in on the opposition goal. After a number of fruitless efforts at both ends, it was once again Maccabi's Sohil Armeli who came close, but he was stopped by the keeper and the deflection was shot over by an ever active Mavis Tchibota. "Shachar" striker Raz Itzhak, perhaps the shortest player on the pitch, later rose highest to head a ball into the arms of the Hapoel keeper. But it was Eden Hershkowitz who in the 71st minute brought about a change in the direction of the tie when he scored the equaliser for Hapoel Tel Aviv. After that the match became a box-to-box affair, with both sides stepping up their efforts to find a winner. And much to the chagrin of the hosts it was the visitors who finally succeeded, but not until the final minute of injury time when Guy Hadida put Hapoel ahead 1-2.
For Maccabi Tel Aviv's Under-19s this is only their third defeat this season, but after second-placed Maccabi Haifa won their Saturday fixture "Shachar" saw their lead at the top of the national U19 Premier League table reduced to six points. Next week head coach Ziv Arie's squad will travel south along the Mediterranean coast for an away encounter against Ashdod FC.
