Prematch
After being eliminated from State Cup play, Guy Tzarfati’s squad hosted Bnei Yehuda in the Little Derby at the Ramle Stadium on Matchday 18 of the Youth Ligat Ha’Al. The Head Coach made a number of changes to his Starting XI as Daniel Peretz, Amit Rosenboim, Peleg Moshe, Eden Kartzev and Netanel Peretz all featured on the pitch to begin the match. Their opponent, Bnei Yehuda began the day in 13th place.

First Half
The Under-19’s got off to a good start and had their first chance in the 12th minute. Or Dasa sent Netanel Peretz a nice ball on the right side that he shot from 14 meters out, but his effort went off of one of the defenders. Three minutes later, Eylon Almog tried his luck from 18 meters but his chance was caught by the keeper. In the 19th minute, Bnei Yehuda had their first opportunity but their effort was blocked by keeper Daniel Peretz and sent out for a corner. Or Dasa tried to take matters into his own hands but his hard liner was saved by keeper Yuval Sade as the contest remained goalless.

In the 29th minute, Dor Galili sent a ball to Almog’s head, but his effort was again blocked by the keeper. However, Maccabi “Shachar” would finally find the back of the goal three minutes later when Kartzev lifted a free kick into the box and Fadi Najar headed it hard into the goal for a 1:0 advantage that the Yellow & Blue would take into the break.

Second Half
Bnei Yehuda came back into the match when they were awarded a 52nd minute penalty. Daniel Avital stepped up to the spot and put it home to draw the visitors even. Tzarfati decided to make a change up top and inserted Mahmoud Awesat in favor of Almog but the move didn’t stifle the Orange’s momentum as they took the lead in the 60th minute. Garia took the ball and put it behind the Yellow & Blue keeper to take a 2:1 lead. Prince Thomas and Neal Goldberg both came into the match and looked to find the tying goal, but in the 90th minute, Amit Rosenboim picked up a red card as the score stayed as is, sending the Under-19 side to the loss.