Maccabi “Shachar” recorded a critical victory and collected three crucial points to pull within only one point of table leaders Maccabi Haifa. Oliel Peretz scored the match’s lone goal in the 42nd minute helping Ziv’s club to the win as both he and central defender Ran Vaturi commented on the game.

“We aren’t counting wins. There was a point early on in the season where we were playing in the Champions League and we had a run of five matches where we didn’t win, so I’m not counting now. We have a very short squad and sent three players to train with the First Team which of course I’m thrilled about, but we also have had a number of injuries and players called up for National Team duty. The guys come and work hard each and every practice.

About the match itself:

“Our defense was a bit soft and allowed Netanya a number of good opportunities but luckily for us Haviv Ohayon saved us time and time again. We scored a great goal today as well and talked about how we can improve in the second half. We controlled the tempo and tried as best as possible to prevent them from getting chances during the final 45 minutes.”

On the team’s goals:

“I talk to the players about three things. Helping the players improve which we are doing very well, the State Cup which is an important goal for us as well as staying at the top of the table. I didn’t cry when we were 7-points off the top of the table and I’m not jumping up and down now that we are only one point from Maccabi Haifa. The Greens have more talented and experienced attackers than we have, and we don’t dwell on the results every week. We will continue on our path and with our way.

Ran Vaturi the Maccabi “Shachar” central defender discussed the team’s improvement every week:

“We work very hard during the training sessions and I’m happy to see that things are coming together. We always think about defense first. As the season has continued along, so have we and we are still a young side and have to all chip in on the defensive side including the strikers.

The battle for first place:

“Of course it’s great that we are only one point away from Haifa, but we are taking it game by game. A streak this way or that way really doesn’t concern us. At the end of the day, we all know the importance for the youth team to take titles, but the main goal is to have players advance and improve and I believe”