Maccabi “Shlomi” Netanya – Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv, 12:30 Netanya
Guy Tzarfati’s squad is in great shape winning 6 of their last seven matches and will look continue the fine run on Matchday 27 of the Youth Ligat Ha’Al. The young Yellow & Blue currently sit in 3rd place with 49 points and will attempt to move closer to second place Hapoel Raanana who are four points ahead.

Maccabi “Oded” Tel Aviv – Hapoel Beer Sheva, 10:30 Kiryat Shalom
The Under-17 side under the direction of Eliezer Ben Aharon are also in good form after advancing to the State Cup Final earlier in the week. Maccabi “Oded” will look to take another step towards the league title when they host Hapoel Beer Sheva with only five Matchdays remaining and a gap of 8 points ahead of the second place club.

Hapoel Ramat Hasharon – Maccabi “Eli Fuchs” Tel Aviv, 18:30 Ramat Hasharon Synthetic
After scoring six goals last Matchday, Alon Brumer’s squad will try to keep the league championship race in their sights by collecting three more points against the 9th place team. With four contests left in the season, the third place Maccabi sits 6 points out of first place.

Hapoel Raanana – Maccabi “Ilan” Tel Aviv, Raanana Park North – Synthetic
The Under-16 club has had a difficult schedule of late and will hope to pick up a win at Raanana. Amir Sofer’s charges are in 4th place as they visit the 7th place outfit.

Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv continued their fine play of late and picked up another quality victory by defeating first place Maccabi Haifa 1:0 away on Matchday 25 of the Youth Ligat Ha’Al. Guy Shetah’s 76th minute goal gave the young Yellow & Blue their sixth win in seven games and denied the Greens the opportunity to celebrate their championship already today.

Following the match, Head Coach Guy Tzarfati spoke about his player’s performance: “Defeating Maccabi Haifa is no small task. This club is having a fantastic season but I want to look at our play first. To come here and play well with a ton of positive energy is all part of what we have been building over the past season”

About the season as a whole:
“I don’t feel that this was a missed opportunity. On one hand, we are Maccabi and we want to win titles, but we can’t forget that we are going though a complete changeover in the Youth Department. Our players are working very hard and very intensely. Our victory is to take the players to the end of the season and for them to understand the expectations and the path that we are taking them on here at Maccabi.”

Prematch
Following two straight wins, Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv visited Maccabi “Shmuel” Haifa in a tough away encounter on Matchday 25 of the Youth Ligat Ha’Al. Dor Galili was back in Guy Tzarfati’s Starting XI in place of Neil Goldberg for the only change in the side that defeated Hapoel Haifa 2:1 on Sunday. Haifa on the other hand was looking to win the league tittle with only 4 Matchdays remaining in the season.

First Half
The match began as the sides played tentative football with the first chance coming in the 15th minute for Haifa as Omer Kats made the save.

The Yellow & Blue took their first opportunity of the contest in the 25th minute when Tomer Altman’s chance went off of the outside of the goal to keep the match goalless. Five minutes later, Amit Shapira led a counter attack and gave the ball to Altman but his 18 meter scorcher went off of the bar as the half ended 0:0.

Second Half
Haifa had a chance to take the lead 15 minutes into half number two when Amit Zaneti came very close to scoring but Fadi Najar cleared the ball off of the line while six minutes later Eylon Almog’s effort was stopped by the Green’s keeper.

In the 69th minute, Almog had yet another chance thanks to an Altman pass but his shot was off the mark. However, Maccabi’s hard work paid off in the 76th minute when Ron Zamir teamed up with Guy Shetah whose sharp angled chance found the back of the goal for a 1:0 lead. A minute after the goal, Haifa was down to ten men as Zaneti was sent off for an off the ball foul on Eden Kartzev as Maccabi wrapped up their 6th win in 7 matches, denying the Greens the opportunity to be crowned champions.

Prematch
After yesterday’s match postponement due to the unusually hot weather, Maccabi “Shachar” hosted Hapoel “Robi” Haifa at the Ramle Stadium on Matchday 26 of the Youth Ligat Ha’Al. Amit Shapira and Neal Goldberg started up front for Guy Tzarfati where they would partner with Eylon Almog as the Under-19 side looked to pick up another win after last week’s 3:1 victory.

First Half
Maccabi began the match on the attack and scored just 4 minutes into the contest. A cross from the left side came right to Amit Shapira who in turn handed the ball off to Almog who scored into the far corner from 12 meters out. As the match hit the 16th minute the young Yellow & Blue would already go ahead 2:0 thanks to Almog’s assist on Netanel Peretz’s strike. As Maccabi continued to control the game, the Reds shocked the hosts and cut the lead to 2:1 in the 21st minute as the score remained as is for the rest of the half.

Second Half
The Under-19’s continued to play quality football and almost scored in the 52nd minute as Almog sent Shapira a deep ball but the Hapoel Haifa keeper made the save on a one-on-one chance. As the second half continued on, Tzarfati made a number of substitutions as Ron Zamir, Dor Galili, Mahmoud Awesat and Prince Thomas all came on. In the 71st minute, Kartsev’s free kick from 24 meters almost went into the Haifa goal but again the keeper was up to the task. Tomer Altman sent a marvelous ball to Zamir but the keeper again was able to make the stop. Maccabi “Shachar” continued to pour on the offense but couldn’t find the back of the goal again as the Under-19’s recorded the win and collected the 3 points.

Due to the inclement hot weather expected this weekend, the Israel Football Association decided to postpone the Under-15 matches along with all of the younger age groups that were scheduled for after 11:00. In addition, the Under-16 matches will be determined by the heat and the referees

Maccabi “Shachar” Tel Aviv – Hapoel “Robi” Haifa, 12:00 Ramle
Following a victory last Matchday over Hapoel Beer Sheva, the Under-19 squad will look to keep up the positive momentum on Matchday 26 of the Youth Ligat Ha’Al. The Haifa Reds find themselves in the relegation zone while the young Yellow & Blue sit in 3rd place with 43 points.

Hapoel Rishon Le’Zion – Maccabi “Oded” Tel Aviv, 10:30 Superland West – Synthetic
Eliezer Ben Aharon’s side will attempt to take another step towards the league title against the relegation bound club.

Hapoel Raanana – Maccabi “Ilan” Tel Aviv, 08:30, Raanana Park North – Synthetic
The Under-15 North Team visits Raanana in a number of difficult matches as they will try to get back onto the wining track.

The Maccabi Under-19 squad got back onto the winning track yesterday with a 3:1 victory over Hapoel Beer Sheva in the Youth Ligat Ha’Al Premier League. Guy Tzarfati saw his team control the tempo of the contest at the Ramle Stadium and summed up his club’s performance following the match:

“This was a good win and a good game. We played disciplined and quality football with a combination of both attacking and aggressive play. I told the players at the beginning of the week that there was a lack of passion in their game and I’m happy that they brought it to the forefront against Beer Sheva.”

The coach was also asked about how he was handling the challenge of getting the best out of his club despite not battling for the championship:
“The goals are different when it comes to the youth club’s. These are players who are just at the start of the careers and over the course of the years there will be some matches that are really big and some less so. The players need to know how to handle both of these situations including fighting for a position on the table. You have to know how to rise to the occasion? We are working very hard and the goal is to make sure that as many players as possible receive the tools to deal with the real things which is to be a first team player.”

The rivalry with Beer Sheva:
“We don’t ignore things that are off of the pitch and a match against them is always of interest since these are the two leading clubs in Israel.”