Maccabi Tel Aviv “Shachar” continued to display fine form on Saturday in the national youth (under-19) league and notched a convincing victory when they hosted Hapoel Nof Hagalil at their home ground in Ness Ziona.
Maccabi dominated from the opening whistle and had several chances to score in the
early stages before they finally got on the score sheet in the 23rd minute when Itai Ben Hemo sent a ball that cut through the opposition’s defence to Asaf Hershko, who with only the goalkeeper to beat, made no mistake and slotted in for the first goal.
Only three minutes had passed and Maccabi doubled the score when Parfait Guiagon
struck powerfully from outside the area to find the net again.
But even though Nof Hagalil were on the back foot, they weren’t going to give up without a fight and were back in contention in the 38th minute when Rian Ashmoz headed in from a corner.
That goal appeared to spur Maccabi’s players once more as the first half was coming to
a close and Nadav Nidam scored the third goal in the 42nd minute from the penalty spot after Ronen Hanchis was brought down in the area by a Nof Hagalil player.
The momentum remained with Maccabi in the second half and they created several more chances, although none found the target.
The visitors got their second consolation goal three minutes from the end when Yarin Hatukai beat Ben Musayof in the Maccabi goal with an excellent curling shot.
Maccabi’s lineup: Ben Musayof, Hadar Mor Yosef, (Yalli Lazar, 88), Omer Itzhaki, Itai Ben Hamo, Shachar Rosen (Mikel Mor, 35), Nadav Nidam (Afek Sapir Navot, 70), Omri Ram, Asaf Hershko (Niv Berkovitz, 70), Tal Torgeman (Or Roizman, 59), Parfait Guiagon, Ronen Hanchis.
