In good form and inspired by the first team's victory in the Derby last Monday, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" will be guests at Hapoel Tel Aviv this Saturday
If Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" coach Amir Turgeman's players watched Monday night's Derby between Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Tel Aviv, they must surely have come away inspired. Maccabi Tel Aviv's Youth Team will be playing their second derby of the season against Hapoel Tel Aviv this Saturday at Wolfson training ground at 12 noon (broadcast on the Sport 5 channel). Apart from wishing to emulate their older club mates, the lads at "Shachar" will no doubt want to keep apace with league leaders Maccabi Haifa and put the loss in the last derby behind them. In round 5 of this season, after a good start of 10 points from their first four matches, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" hosted Hapoel Tel Aviv at Kiryat Shalom and to their dismay suffered their first defeat as they fell 2-0 victims at home to their city rivals from a brace from Hapoel's Amit Amzalag. The victory enabled Hapoel to close the gap between the two sides in the table to six points, where it has remained up to this point in the season.
Despite the loss earlier this season, Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" hold an overall edge in derby matches in recent seasons. In Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar"'s championship year last season the Yellows hosted Hapoel early on in the Tikva neighbourhood of Tel Aviv. After an early goal by the guests, Maccabi equalised when Gael Margulies leapt to head in a corner and the match finished in a 1-1 draw. The second derby came in round 17, with Turgeman's Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" still unbeaten and safe at the top of the table and no intention of letting their city rivals upset the applecart. Again the opposition drew first blood early on, but this time it was Maccabi's defence that came to the rescue. Mansour Amash and Gil Beton turned the score around to 2-1 and made the short trip back from Wolfson to Kiryat Shalom a happy one indeed: 13 wins in 17 matches. In the 2010/2011 season both derbies ended in the same result, 2-1, and both again in Maccabi's favour. Some of the stars of that season can now be seen treading the pitch with the first team, names like Moanes Dabbur, Dor Micha and Moshe Lugassi. Together with the rest of the Maccabi Tel Aviv "Shachar" squad, they also encountered Hapoel on the road to winning the double, as they defeated them 2-0 in the last sixteen of the National Cup.
That brings Maccabi Tel Aviv Shachar's derby advantage over Hapoel Tel Aviv in the last two and a half years to 5-1, cup ties included. On top of that, Amir Turgeman's lads will be arriving at the Derby on the back of three consecutive league wins. But despite all the statistical advantages, the whole team know that what really counts is what happens on the pitch after the opening whistle at Wolfson. Everyone knows the rules, and no need to remind us about the Derby clichés. What remains to be seen is what will be after 90 minutes of football. And we're hoping for victory.
