Maccabi Tel Aviv "Oded" beat Beitar Jerusalem 3-1 to advance to the U17 State Cup final
Maccabi Tel Aviv "Oded", under the able leadership of coaches Eliezer Ben Aharon and Gadi Brumer, have reached the finals of the U17 State Cup competition after beating their counterparts from Beitar Jerusalem 3-1 in the semis at "Beit Nivharot" in the Tel Aviv suburb of Shfayim. "Oded"'s road to the semi-finals was not an easy one by any means and included such strong rivals as Ashdod FC, Maccabi Petach Tikva and Hakoach Amidar Ramat Gan.
Maccabi opened the match brightly and after a number of excellent scoring opportunities they netted their first goal on 17 minutes. Tomer Altman tore down the right and sent the ball across the pitch to Ron Gabay. Gabay passed on to the prolific Omer Lakao, who scored on the half-volley to give his side a 1-0 lead in an otherwise goalless first half.
After the break Roy Ronen came on for the injured Amit Shapira and on 62 minutes would be involved in Maccabi's second. After a continued good performance by the whole Maccabi team, an exceptional personal effort by the substitute enabled Ron Gabay to poke home to expand "Oded"'s advantage to 2-0. On 70 minutes Beitar exploited some weak marking on the part of the Maccabi defence to pull a goal back but "Oded" had the last word when once again Roy Ronen stepped up, this time to take a corner, and Lenny Aharon headed home to finish off the scoring at 3-1.
In the final, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Oded" will face Hapoel Nir Ramat Hasharon, who defeated Hapoel Beer Sheva 3-2 in the other U17 State Cup semi-final.
