Another perfect weekend for Maccabi's Youth Division as the U17s won a derby and the U16s advanced to the next round in the State Cup
After the Under-19s' magnificent 0-7 triumph at Hapoel Haifa on Saturday, the rest of Maccabi Tel Aviv's Youth Division followed suit with wins from top to bottom. First up the Under-17s, who took on the challenge of a tricky Tel Aviv derby and emerged narrow 1-0 winners at home against Hapoel Tel Aviv on a lone second-half goal by Ran Vaturi. In so doing Maccabi Tel Aviv "Oded" kept up the pressure on national U17 Premier League leaders Maccabi Haifa, who lead them by a solitary point at the top of the table.
Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eli Fuchs" were the Division's only team to play a Cup tie at the weekend, facing tough opposition away at Beitar Jerusalem for a place in the last sixteen of the U16 State Cup. Until the final moments of the match it looked like head coach Shlomi Mitelka's side were headed for a 1-0 defeat, but in the final stage of the match goals by Eden Agami six minutes from time and Eden Kartsev at the final whistle ensured that Maccabi's Under-16s reached the next round of the competition.
Meanwhile back in the league, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Eldad", the club's Under-15 Team 1, registered their fourth consecutive victory with a 3-0 home win against Hapoel Rishon Lezion that keeps them five points clear at the top of the nationwide U15 Central District table. In the U15 Sharon District League, Maccabi's Under-15 Team 2 won the third of their last four outings with a convincing 0-5 result at Hapoel Hadera. Gil Rahimi netted a brace, Amit Glezer, Yam Ben Yehuda and Eyal Chen scored the other three. Maccabi's Under-14 Team North also faced opposition from counterparts from Hapoel Hadera, in their case at home, and also emerged with a clean sheet, scoring four goals to no reply. Oz Bilui, Raveh Asayag Yehonatan Izen and Idan Rozenfeld were head coach Nisim Dvash's goalscorers as they dispatched Hapoel Hadera 4-0. But head coach Ori David's Under-14 team South hit the jackpot with their fifth consecutive win and the top goals total of the weekend, a 1-9 rout of municipal neighbours Bnei Yehuda in the "little" derby of Tel Aviv.
On Friday the first "little" Tel Aviv derby was played out between the Under-13s of Bnei Yehuda and Maccabi's Under-13 Team North, and the result was nearly as impressive, with Maccabi emerging 0-5 winners. But certainly not to be outdone, Maccabi's Under-13 Team South hosted Ashdod FC on Saturday at the Kiryat Shalom training ground and nearly took the top goalscoring honours themselves. In the end they fell one short but kept a clean sheet in their 8-0 triumph over their southern rivals.
