Maccabi Tel Aviv “Shahar” were brought down to earth after winning last weekend’s Winter Youth Tournament when they were beaten 2-1 by Maccabi Netanya in an under-19 league fixture on Saturday.
Maccabi, second in the standings against seventh-placed Netanya, who were the hosts, were left to rue their chances and had a handful of attempts in the first half, although none was good enough to find the net.
Netanya took full advantage when in the 28th minute, Amit Yaacov’s long-range shot from outside the area found the back of Ben Musayoff’s net.
Maccabi had at least two more good chances in the second half as Netanya defended their lead and they did so successfully until eight minutes from the end when substitute Shaked Navon sent Ronen Hanchis into the area and he shot into the left hand corner of the Netanya net.
Parity was short-lived, however, and three minutes later Netanya scored the winner when Amit Taktuk pounced on a ball that rebounded off Omer Itzhaki after a Netanya free kick and slotted home from close range.
