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Nikolai Kudritskiy (1962 - 1994)
Third Round
The Best Scorers List
Play-Off
The CupThis was the one-team season, the season of the team that passed it without losing a single game (save the Cup and the European Cups) and broke a lot of Israeli records considered unbreakable beforehand. Maccabee Haifa, which made two glorious sensations in Europe that year, passed the 3 National League rounds with no losses at all, managed to erase the impossible rivals' leads, scored almost 100 goals and frequently just devastated its opponents with the highest possible margins. However, it had one tough rival that we have to mention here. Maccabee Tel-Aviv had also a great season, and a skill of its players would've sufficed for the Championship in any other season, hadn't it been for the Greens. Maccabee Tel-Aviv could be consoled with the Cup it won after several tough battles, the peak reached in Kiryat-Eliezer, in an away victory over Maccabee Haifa.
Rafi Cohen, leaving Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa for Maccabee Haifa, took "The Keeper Of The Season" award, though Alexander Uvarov in Maccabee Tel-Aviv's net was a serious contender for that award, too. "The 11 Of The Season" consisted exclusively of Maccabee Haifa's players, and the only exception was Hapoel Tel-Aviv's star, Haim Revivo; the latter left his team for Maccabee Haifa the next season and became a dominant player of the Greens, before he left to become a superstar in Spain and later on in Turkey. The best Israeli scorer of the last 2 seasons, Alon Mizrahi, took this award for the 3rd time in Maccabee Haifa, with 28 goals, but the social problems of the scorer forced him leave the team after the season for Maccabee Tel-Aviv. And Bonnie Ginzburg, who played this season for Maccabee Ironi Ashdod, stayed with his team in the National League this time; however, they relegated the next season. Roman Pets and Sergei Kandaurov made a wonderful 1st season in Maccabee Haifa which had the very strong squad - strong enough to make the two extremely bright attacking stars, Ivan Getsko and Shai Holtzman, constantly sit on the bench; these two came as the substitutes in the critical moments, and scored together 17 (!) important goals. And there were several foreign players to register the good season and to raise the level of Israeli soccer - Jaroslav Baku, Hapoel Tel-Aviv's keeper; Sergei Gerasimets, Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv's forward; Victor Moroz and Marian Beko, Hapoel Beer-Sheva's wonderful midfielders; etc.
The end of the season passed under a heavy shadow of the tragedy of Nikolai Kudritskiy, the superstar of Bnei-Yehuda who found his death at the Tel-Aviv - Haifa old highway. Having Alon Mizrahi in Maccabee Haifa and Haim Revivo in Hapoel Tel-Aviv, Bnei-Yehuda managed to stay in the National League due to the points earned by Kudritskiy before his death and due to the motivation to commemorate him afterwards; Victor Chanov, who left Maccabee Haifa for Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv, registered several good games and then left for Ukraine. Even in his last season which was cut so tragically, Niko starred in "The Best Scorers' List", but this time at the 4th place, and not as a runner-up after Alon Mizrahi. Had he stayed alive, he would've left no chance to Itzhak Zohar or Moti Kakun.
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Week 1 - Bonnie Ginzburg showed a great skill in the newcomer's net, as his team, Maccabee Ironi Ashdod, lost just 0:1 to Maccabee Tel-Aviv away. And the interesting game was held in Jerusalem, where the Champions hosted the Cup holders. Reuven Attar gave Maccabee Haifa a lead, and then Alon Mizrahi scored a fantastic goal from 20 meters, misleading Sergei Tretyak before the shot. The two great shots of Yaacov Schwartz early in the 2nd half returned Beitar into the game, but Alon Mizrahi was still to put the final point, 3:2 to Maccabee Haifa away.
Week 2 - Hapoel Kefar-Saba defeated Hapoel Haifa, 2:0 away. Hapoel Tsafririm Holon registered an away 1:1 draw in Beer-Sheva. Beitar Jerusalem defeated Maccabee Netanya away, 5:1, after the two goals of each Vladimir Greshnev and Eli Ohana. Maccabee Haifa beat Maccabee Herzliya, 1:0 at home, after the header of Ronnie Levi. And Maccabee Tel-Aviv, pissed off after an early opener of Bnei-Yehuda by a wonderful free kick from 20 meters from the legs of Patricio Sayag, made a great comeback and destroyed the guests, 5:1.
Week 3 - an early header of Eli Driks gave an away victory to Maccabee Tel-Aviv, 1:0 over Beitar Jerusalem, and Maccabee Tel-Aviv took a lead with 3 victories. Maccabee Haifa failed to defeat the weak squad of Hapoel Haifa, a nil draw in a derby, and Hapoel's keeper, Ronen Azulai, became "The Player Of The Week". Hapoel Tsafririm Holon defeated Hapoel Kefar-Saba, 2:1 at home, and Hapoel Beer-Sheva defeated Hapoel Tel-Aviv, 3:1 away; both the winning teams, altogether with Maccabee Haifa, earned 7 points.
Week 4 - Maccabee Haifa registered a wonderful home performance vs Hapoel Tsafririm Holon, 5:0! And Maccabee Netanya humiliated Hapoel Haifa at home, 7:1! Bnei-Yehuda defeated Beitar Jerusalem at home, 3:1, and the defending Champions faced a real trouble. Hapoel Beer-Sheva defeated Maccabee Petakh- Tikwa, 3:0 at home; Hapoel Tel-Aviv defeated Hapoel Kefar-Saba, 3:0 away. And the wonderful far-ranged shot of Noam Shoham after 88 minutes beat a sparkling Yaacov Beladev and spoiled a sensation, 1:0 to Maccabee Tel-Aviv at home vs Maccabee Herzliya. At the top - Maccabee Tel-Aviv with 12 pts, Maccabee Haifa and Hapoel Beer-Sheva with 10, Maccabee Ironi Ashdod, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa and Hapoel Tsafririm Holon with 7. At the bottom - Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa with no points, Hapoel Haifa with 1 point and ... Beitar Jerusalem with 3 pts.
Week 5 - Maccabee Tel-Aviv beat Hapoel Haifa, 7:0 away! Alon Hazan headed the winner home to the net of Aryeh Alter, 1:0 to Maccabee Haifa away against Hapoel Tel-Aviv. Hapoel Beer-Sheva defeated Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, 1:0 away, and the trio of the above-mentioned winners conquered the top solely. Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa collected its first points, defeating Hapoel Kefar-Saba 4:0 at home. Two very important home victories, 2:0 to Beitar Jerusalem over Maccabee Ironi Ashdod and 2:1 to Maccabee Herzliya over Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv. Hapoel Tsafririm Holon lost to Maccabee Netanya at home even after taking an early lead, 1:2, and was thrown down from the top.
Week 6 - Marian Beko beat Bonnie Ginzburg from the penalty spot after 43 minutes of play, 1:0 to Hapoel Beer-Sheva in Ashdod. Maccabee Haifa beat Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa, 4:0 at home, with 3 goals in the last 15 minutes. 3:1 to Bnei-Yehuda over Hapoel Haifa at home, Niko Kudritskiy scoring a hat-trick. 3:1 to Hapoel Tel-Aviv in Netanya, despite an early lead of the hosts.
* Week 7 - Hapoel Haifa registered a surprising home draw, 1:1 vs Beitar Jerusalem. Hapoel Beer-Sheva defeated Hapoel Kefar-Saba, 1:0 at home. Alon Mizrahi scored 2 goals to lead Maccabee Haifa to an away victory, 3:1 over Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa. That wasn't a day of Petakh-Tikwa, after all, as Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa lost away to Maccabee Netanya, 1:2.
* The interesting game of a great quality was registered in Tel-Aviv derby. Maccabee Tel-Aviv scored an opener, but Hapoel managed to equalize - Haim Revivo shot a bomb parried superbly by Uvarov, Sagiv Eliyahu tried a rebound that was also denied by the keeper, and Yossi Madar was finally there to put it in. A controversial moment was registered afterwards - the referee Yaacov Scheiner sent Yehuda Amar off and awarded a penalty kick against Hapoel Tel-Aviv for a handplay in the box, but after a short conversation with a linesman he cancelled both punishments - it turned out the shoulder had been used. And still, Maccabee scored an away winner, 2:1.
* Week 8 - Hapoel Kefar-Saba surprisingly defeated Maccabee Ironi Ashdod, 2:0 away, even after Yuriy Moroz missed the guests' penalty kick. Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa could've equalized away against Maccabee Tel-Aviv, but Alexander Uvarov parried a penalty kick of Evgeniy Shakhov, and finally the game ended with 4:0 to the leaders. Bnei-Yehuda defeated Hapoel Tel-Aviv, 4:0 at home after yet another hat-trick of Niko Kudritskiy. And Beitar Jerusalem registered a wonderful home victory, 4:2 over Tsafririm Holon.
* The most interesting game was the top one in Haifa. Reuven Attar and Sergei Kandaurov scored the goals rare in their beauty for Maccabee Haifa, before Dudu Heffer reduced the score for Beer-Sheva with a wonderful shot from 20 meters, going under the right crossbar of Rafi Cohen and in. 6 minutes from time, Rafi Cohen knocked Oren Sagron down in the box and got booked for that, but managed to parry the penalty kick of Victor Moroz and to take the rebound tight. 2:1 to Maccabee which began running away from Beer-Sheva.
Week 9 - great home losses to Hapoel Haifa and Hapoel Tel-Aviv, 0:7 to Maccabee Ironi Ashdod (!) and 0:4 to Beitar Jerusalem, respectively. Hapoel Beer-Sheva registered a very important victory at home, 2:1 over Maccabee Netanya; 2:1 to Maccabee Tel-Aviv in Petakh-Tikwa, over Hapoel. And Maccabee Haifa, exhausted after a great victory in Parma, conceded a goal from Moti Eberbaum (32) and managed just to equalize through Alon Mizrahi (54), but nothing more; just 1:1 for the Greens away vs Hapoel Kefar-Saba, whose keeper Giora Antman was named "The Player Of The Week".
Week 10 saw Maccabee Haifa defeating Maccabee Ironi Ashdod away, 3:1, and 3 identical scores were registered - to Hapoel Haifa at home over Tsafririm Holon, to Beitar Jerusalem at home over Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa, and to Hapoel Tel-Aviv away over Maccabee Herzliya. Maccabee Netanya devastated Hapoel Kefar-Saba at home, 3:0. And Maccabee Tel-Aviv registered a very important top victory at home, 2:0 over Hapoel Beer-Sheva. At the top - Maccabee Tel-Aviv 30, Maccabee Haifa 26, Hapoel Beer-Sheva 22. At the bottom - Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 4, Hapoel Haifa 6.
Week 11 - Hapoel Haifa defeated Hapoel Tel-Aviv, 2:0 away, and Hapoel Tsafririm Holon defeated Maccabee Ironi Ashdod, 2:0 at home. Maccabee Haifa was down at home, 0:1 to Maccabee Netanya, but won at the end, 4:2. Nikolai Kudritskiy scored a surprising winner in Beer-Sheva, 1:0 to Bnei-Yehuda. And Moti Eberbaum headed the ball home to beat Uvarov and to equalize the score, but Cyril Makanaki scored a winner to Maccabee Tel-Aviv, 2:1 in Kefar-Saba.
Week 12 - Maccabee Ironi Ashdod defeated Maccabee Netanya, 5:1 at home, after being down at an early stage. Bnei-Yehuda defeated Hapoel Kefar-Saba, 3:1 at home, and Hapoel Beer-Sheva defeated Beitar Jerusalem away, 2:0. A bottom battle in Haifa, between Hapoel Haifa and Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa, ended with no goals. And in the top game between Maccabee Haifa and Maccabee Tel-Aviv, Alon Mizrahi was sent off after 2 minutes of play (!), but Alon Hazan shot a bright free kick 8 minutes later that misled Uvarov; the hosts levelled through Avi Cohen (72), from a clear offside overlooked by the referee. The two keepers, Rafi Cohen and Alexander Uvarov, registered the game of the top class, getting the grade 7 each.
Week 13 - Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa registered its first victory in Shiya Feigenbaum's era as a coach, 1:0 over Hapoel Tsafririm Holon at home. Maccabee Tel-Aviv defeated Maccabee Netanya away, 3:1, after a dreadful game of Gabi Elbaz in Netanya's net. And Niko Kudritskiy temporarily equalized to 1:1 in Haifa with a bright free kick, but still, Maccabee Haifa was to win 5:1 over the deteriorating Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals GD Points 1 Maccabee Tel-Aviv 13 12 1 0 37- 6 +31 37 2 Maccabee Haifa 13 10 3 0 33-10 +23 33 3 Hapoel Beer-Sheva 13 8 2 3 19-10 + 9 26 4 Beitar Jerusalem 13 5 4 4 26-18 + 8 19 5 Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 13 5 3 5 20-23 - 3 18 6 Maccabee Herzliya 13 4 5 4 14-14 0 17 7 Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 13 4 4 5 17-17 0 16 8 Maccabee Ironi Ashdod 13 4 3 6 19-15 + 4 15 9 Hapoel Tsafririm Holon 13 4 3 6 15-26 -11 15 10 Maccabee Netanya 13 4 2 7 25-30 - 5 14 11 Hapoel Tel-Aviv 13 4 2 7 17-25 - 8 14 12 Hapoel Kefar-Saba 13 2 4 7 11-23 -12 10 13 Hapoel Haifa 13 2 4 7 10-36 -26 10 14 Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 13 2 2 9 9-22 -13 8
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Week 14 - a very important 3:0 home victory to Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa over Hapoel Tel-Aviv. Maccabee Tel-Aviv, being down 0:1 early in Ashdod, still managed to perform an impressive comeback, 5:2 to the leaders at the end. Maccabee Netanya defeated Bnei-Yehuda at home, 2:0, in a game both Gabi Elbaz and Victor Chanov showed the best of their skills in the net. A very important victory to Hapoel Beer-Sheva, 2:1 at home over Hapoel Haifa, in the battle of the top and the bottom. And Maccabee Haifa managed to defeat Beitar Jerusalem at home; the final result, 4:0, wasn't reflecting at all the events on the field, as Ronen Harazi, Eli Ohana and Vladimir Greshnev were doing their best in the attacking line of the guests, but saw Rafi Cohen in all his virtuosity.
Week 15 - Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa went on winning, this time 1:0 at home over Maccabee Ironi Ashdod. Hapoel Kefar-Saba defeated away Hapoel Haifa, 2:0 in a very important bottom game. Hapoel Beer-Sheva lost the points in Holon, "just" 1:1. Maccabee Haifa won in Herzliya, 2:0, and Kandaurov's goal, a bomb from 35 meters under the right crossbar of Yaacov Beladev, entered the history. And the biggest applauses went that day to the Oranges of Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv. A fantastic game saw Niko Kudritskiy, "The Player Of The Week", in a bright free kick from 30 meters, and Nir Shitrit with a volley kick from 16 meters beating the wonderful Alexander Uvarov, and on the other hand, Shuli Gilardi, "The Keeper Of The Week", preserved the score in a series of sparkling saves.
* Week 16 was great, with 33 goals scored in 7 games. Maccabee Ironi Ashdod devastated Bnei-Yehuda at home, 6:0, and Hapoel Beer-Sheva defeated Hapoel Tel-Aviv at home, 3:1; a 1:1 draw was registered at Petakh-Tikwa derby, and Hapoel Tsafririm Holon defeated Hapoel Kefar-Saba away, 4:1 after a nice comeback. And there was a swap at the top - Maccabee Haifa defeated Hapoel Haifa 4:0 and was very grateful to Beitar Jerusalem. In Ramat-Gan, a goal of Nir Sevilla gave a lead to Maccabee Tel-Aviv, but a goal of Eli Ohana and two fantastic far-ranged efforts of Vladimir Greshnev from 18 meters changed the picture totally; Itzhak Zohar could just reduce the score, 3:2 to Beitar away, and the second consecutive loss of Maccabee Tel-Aviv. The top - Maccabee Haifa 42, Maccabee Tel-Aviv 40, Hapoel Beer-Sheva 33.
* But the most interesting game took place in Netanya. 3 times Maccabee Herzliya took the lead, and 3 times Maccabee Netanya equalized, twice by Slobodan Drapic - the first was a bright free kick from 30 meters under the bar, and the second was a shot from 25 meters under the crossbar. And then, at the situation of 3:3, Drapic stroke again. Netanya's defender, who hadn't scored any goal beforehand in his whole career, completed the comeback of Netanya with a wonderful shot from 35 meters, again under the bar of Yaacov Beladev, making it a personal hat-trick and becoming "The Player Of The Week". 4:3 to Netanya.
Week 17 - Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa stole 2 points from Beer-Sheva in a nil home draw, and Hapoel Tsafririm Holon did the same to Maccabee Haifa, as well as Hapoel Haifa to Maccabee Netanya. Maccabee Tel-Aviv defeated Maccabee Herzliya away, 2:1, and Beitar Jerusalem did the same to Bnei-Yehuda at home; the beautiful reducer of Niko Kudritskiy didn't change anything. Hapoel Tel-Aviv defeated Hapoel Kefar-Saba at home, 3:0.
Week 18 - Maccabee Tel-Aviv defeated Hapoel Haifa at home, 3:0. Konstantin Marko gave a lead to Hapoel Tel-Aviv, but a shot of Sergei Kandaurov and a penalty kick of Alon Mizrahi, 3 minutes from time, gave another home victory to Maccabee Haifa, 2:1. 1:1 to Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa in Kefar-Saba.
Week 19 - Maccabee Ironi Ashdod achieved a nil draw in Beer-Sheva, and the same result was achieved by Hapoel Tsafririm Holon at home, vs Maccabee Tel-Aviv, and by Hapoel Haifa at home, vs Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv. The goal of Alon Mizrahi from an offside and the referee's mistake, when he didn't see a foul on Offer Digmi in Haifa's box one minute from time, gave a very controversial away victory to Maccabee Haifa, 1:0 over Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa. 2:0 to Beitar Jerusalem in Herzliya, 2:1 to Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa at home over Hapoel Kefar-Saba.
Week 20 - Maccabee Herzliya won securely away, 3:0 in Ashdod. Beitar Jerusalem won at home, 3:1 over Hapoel Haifa. 2:0 to Hapoel Beer-Sheva in Kefar-Saba; Alexander Polukarov scored 9 minutes from time to beat the great Jaroslav Baku, 1:0 to Maccabee Tel-Aviv in another derby. Maccabee Netanya defeated Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa, 4:1 at home, after a short lead taken by the guests; 1:0 to Bnei-Yehuda at home over Hapoel Tsafririm Holon. And Maccabee Haifa, being down at home after a goal of Yossi Levi, managed still to beat the fantastic Shai Hess twice, once through Alon Hazan and once through the volley kick of Eyal Berkovich from 18 meters, 2:1 to the hosts over Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa; we remember also a bright kick of Carmelo Mishish from 55 (!) meters, when Rafi Cohen needed all his skill to parry it to a corner.
Week 21 - Maccabee Ironi Ashdod achieved a goalless away draw in Kefar-Saba. Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa defeated Maccabee Netanya at home, 3:0, and Hapoel Tel-Aviv defeated Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv at home, 2:0. Hapoel Tsafririm Holon just devastated Beitar Jerusalem at home, 5:1! Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa achieved an honorable draw against Maccabee Tel-Aviv, 1:1 from a goal of Tal Bnaya after an early lead of Itzhak Zohar, and gave Maccabee Haifa a promising gap of 4 points ahead; the latter defeated Hapoel Beer-Sheva away in a very important top game, from the goals of Sergei Kandaurov and Alon Mizrahi to the net of Asi Rakhamim. And Maccabee Herzliya defeated Hapoel Haifa, 1:0 away, after a wonderful curved volley kick of Moshe Amsalem from inside the box to the right low corner of Alexander Podshivalov.
Week 22 - Hapoel Tsafririm Holon enjoyed the technical victory over Maccabee Herzliya away, as at the situation of 2:1 to Holon the electricity at the stadium had been switched off, and Herzliya's management was found indirectly responsible for that. Maccabee Tel-Aviv defeated Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa at home, 2:1; a 1:1 draw to Hapoel Beer-Sheva in Netanya. Hapoel Haifa lost again, 1:2 in Ashdod. And Maccabee Haifa lost its first points at home that season, after a disappointing nil draw against Hapoel Kefar-Saba; Giora Antman, the guests' keeper, was again "The Player Of The Week", and his save from the header of Alon Mizrahi from 5 meters, 2 minutes into the injury time, would be remembered for long.
Week 23 - Hapoel Beer-Sheva failed badly at home, 0:3 against Maccabee Tel-Aviv; an important home victory to Hapoel Kefar-Saba, 1:0 against Maccabee Netanya, and the same result is achieved by Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa at home, over Beitar Jerusalem. Hapoel Haifa registered a nil draw in Holon. And Maccabee Haifa, being down at home after a wonderful effort of Igal Zrihen (8) and "suffering" badly from a wonderful skill of Bonnie Ginzburg, had Ivan Getsko coming as a substitute and making the difference - first, he scored himself (70) after a great goal pass of Eyal Berkovich, and then, he headed the ball mightily to the frame (87); Bonnie parried it superbly, but just to the header of Alon Mizrahi, 2:1 to the leaders over Maccabee Ironi Ashdod.
* Week 24 - Hapoel Haifa lost at home in a tremendous game, 2:3 to Hapoel Tel-Aviv. Beitar Jerusalem defeated Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, 3:0 at home, and Hapoel Beer-Sheva defeated Bnei-Yehuda away, 4:0. Maccabee Tel-Aviv managed to take all the points at home, 2:1 against Hapoel Kefar-Saba, and regained the lead before the second "Game Of The Season".
* The best game was registered in Netanya - a personal effort of Roman Filipchuk (10) and a nice goal of Avishai Zhano (61) gave the local team a promising 2:0 lead, but Maccabee Haifa just refused to be beaten. And again, these were the substitutes to bring the salvation - first, Ivan Getsko put one goal back (67), after a mighty shot of Reuven Attar had hit the post, and then, the same Getsko made a brilliant pass for 40 meters, and Holtzman (84) left the keeper no chance. Maccabee Haifa attacked vigorously, but Gabi Elbaz was always there to preserve the draw, disappointing both teams. Haifa lost 2 points to be regained later on.
* Week 25 - Hapoel Haifa made an away nil draw in Petakh-Tikwa, vs Maccabee. Maccabee Netanya defeated Maccabee Ironi Ashdod at home, 3:2, and Beitar Jerusalem registered the same result in Beer-Sheva. And despite the really bright game of Victor Chanov in the net of Bnei-Yehuda and the fact he parried a penalty kick of Moti Eberbaum (80), it was still Michael Yaffe to bring Kefar-Saba an important home victory, 1:0, with a great effort from 16 meters (86).
* The best game was, no doubt, held in Haifa, "The Game Of The Season" to show everybody who deserved the Championship that year. After several dangerous attacks of the guests, Eyal Berkovich scored (9), and Alon Mizrahi did the same (22). The best goal was scored by Reuven Attar (30), "The Goal Of The Season" - he actually scratched the ball from 3 defenders and shot a bright bomb from 14 meters to the right high corner of Uvarov. Tel-Aviv was broken, and in the second half Ivan Getsko (75) and Moshe Glam (82) scored another pair of goals, 5:0 to Maccabee Haifa, and no doubts left about the best team that year in Israel.
Week 26 - Maccabee Haifa defeated Bnei-Yehuda away, 3:0, from an opener of Alon Mizrahi and a pair of goals of Ivan Getsko. Beitar Jerusalem defeated Hapoel Kefar-Saba at home, 3:2, and Hapoel Beer-Sheva made the same in Herzliya, both the winning teams registering comebacks. Hapoel Haifa achieved a 1:1 home draw against Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa. And Maccabee Tel-Aviv managed to defeat Maccabee Netanya at home, just 1:0, but the 3 very needed points collected.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals GD Points 1 Maccabee Haifa 26 20 6 0 62-15 +47 66 2 Maccabee Tel-Aviv 26 20 3 3 59-22 +37 63 3 Hapoel Beer-Sheva 26 14 6 6 40-25 +15 48 4 Beitar Jerusalem 26 14 5 7 50-37 +13 47 5 Hapoel Tsafririm Holon 26 8 10 8 33-36 - 3 34 6 Maccabee Netanya 26 9 6 11 45-48 - 3 33 7 Hapoel Tel-Aviv 26 10 3 13 37-44 - 7 33 8 Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 26 8 7 11 34-35 - 1 31 9 Maccabee Herzliya 26 8 7 11 27-34 - 7 31 10 Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 26 8 4 14 26-46 -20 28 11 Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 26 6 9 11 20-31 -11 27 12 Maccabee Ironi Ashdod 26 6 6 14 35-38 - 3 24 13 Hapoel Kefar-Saba 26 5 7 14 22-41 -19 22 14 Hapoel Haifa 26 2 9 15 16-57 -41 15
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Week 27 - 6:1 to Maccabee Haifa in a derby, 2:0 to Maccabee Tel-Aviv at home over Hapoel Kefar-Saba. Hapoel Beer-Sheva beat Maccabee Ironi Ashdod, 3:1 at home, and Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa beat Beitar Jerusalem away, 2:1. Bnei-Yehuda defeated Hapoel Tsafririm Holon away, 3:1, Niko Kudritskiy scoring the 2 last goals of his life.
A lot of things happen usually between the games - the coaches are fired, the players are transferred, the rumours are spread, and so on and so forth; a lot of things, but this is no taste to write about them. This time was an exception, a tragic exception. In Haifa, the Israeli National Team defeated Ukraine in a friendly game, 1:0 (a penalty kick scored by Tal Banin), and Niko Kudritskiy was at the stadium and met after it his former team-mates from Dnepr Dnepropetrovsk; at 3am on Wednesday, 16/03/1994, he insisted on going home to Tel-Aviv and found his death near Raananna, where his Daihatsu Charade hit the highway separation fence at a tremendous speed. The greatest foreigner ever to play in Israel was gone, and the stadium in Shkhunat-ha'Tikwa, full with an audience of 10,000, cried at the ceremony of separation from their Niko, the man they loved and the man who loved them and gave himself fully to them on the pitch.
Week 28 - all the country and especially all the League players were deeply shaken by Kudritskiy's tragedy, and everybody wore the black ribbons. At the third "Game Of The Season", Meir Melika broke Roman Pets' leg and got just a yellow card for that, scoring later on; and Alexander Uvarov managed to forget the pain of the loss of his friend and registered a good performance, but was still beaten once through the free kick of Alon Hazan, 1:1 in Haifa between the 2 leaders, Maccabee Haifa and Maccabee Tel-Aviv. Bnei-Yehuda, playing in Niko's memory, defeated Maccabee Netanya at home, 4:2, and Sergei Gerasimets scored a hat-trick. Two extremely important victories for the bottom teams - Hapoel Haifa defeated Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa at home, 2:1, and Hapoel Kefar-Saba surprised everybody, defeating Hapoel Beer-Sheva at home, 2:0. 4:0 to Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa at home over Hapoel Tsafririm Holon. Beitar Jerusalem won in Ashdod, 3:1.
* Week 29 - 3:2 to Maccabee Tel-Aviv at home over Hapoel Haifa. Beitar Jerusalem defeated Hapoel Kefar-Saba at home, 1:0, from the goal of Ronen Harazi after 88 minutes. 2:0 to Hapoel Tel-Aviv over Bnei-Yehuda at home.
* The interesting game took place in Beer-Sheva, where Maccabee Haifa had a tough match. Daniel Skantei (17) and Dudu Heffer (49) gave the hosts a promising lead of 2:0, but Maccabee Haifa just refused to be beaten, even despite the great game of Asi Rakhamim in Beer-Sheva's net. Shai Holtzman, coming as a substitute, reduced the score (80), and after 5 minutes, Stav Elimelekh parried the ball from the goal-line after a shot of Moshe Glam. Elimelekh had been sent off, and Eyal Berkovich shot a penalty kick; Asi Rakhamim parried his ball, but Eyal rushed forward and headed the rebound home with all the heart, 2:2.
Week 30 - Maccabee Herzliya defeated Hapoel Haifa away in a good game, 3:1; Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa registered the same score away, against Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv. Maccabee Netanya took a lead of 1:0 in Ashdod, but Amir Turgeman scored 4 goals (!), to bring Maccabee Ironi Ashdod a home victory, 4:1. Maccabee Tel-Aviv defeated Hapoel Beer-Sheva at home, 1:0, and Hapoel Tsafririm Holon defeated Hapoel Kefar-Saba away, 2:1. And Maccabee Haifa devastated Beitar Jerusalem at home, 5:1; Alon Mizrahi scored 3 great goals and became "The Player Of The Week".
Week 31 - a surprising nil draw for Hapoel Haifa in Beer-Sheva, and the goal of Shai Holtzman was enough for the victory of Maccabee Haifa in Holon, 1:0. 3:1 to Maccabee Netanya over Hapoel Kefar-Saba at home; 2:2 in a great game in Herzliya, between the local Maccabee and Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv. The interesting game was held in Bloomfield, where Maccabee Ironi Ashdod was 2:1 ahead after being 0:1 down, and Igal Zrihen scored a fantastic bounce from 35 meters over Jaroslav Baku; still, Hapoel Tel-Aviv was the winning side, 5:2. And Vladimir Greshnev found the net of Uvarov again, but Nir Sevilla equalized momentarily, and 3 minutes from time, Avi Nimni scored a winner for Maccabee Tel-Aviv, 2:1 in Jerusalem. At the top - Maccabee Haifa 77, Maccabee Tel-Aviv 76. At the bottom - Hapoel Haifa 19, Hapoel Kefar-Saba 25, Maccabee Ironi Ashdod 28, Bnei-Yehuda and Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa - 35.
Week 32 - 1:1 to Hapoel Haifa at home against Bnei-Yehuda, 3:0 to Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa at home over Maccabee Herzliya, and Maccabee Ironi Ashdod made a very important step to the promised valley, defeating Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 2:0 at home. Hapoel Tel-Aviv beat Hapoel Kefar-Saba away, 4:1. At the top, Maccabee Haifa registered just a home draw against Maccabee Netanya, 1:1, but Maccabee Tel-Aviv lost at home to Tsafririm Holon, 2:3! And in an important game for the UEFA place, Beitar Jerusalem defeated Hapoel Beer-Sheva away, 3:1; we remember the goal of Ronen Harazi, who stopped the ball on his chest 5 meters diagonally to the net, with his back to it, turned with the ball on his right foot and shot with his left to the far low corner of Asi Rakhamim, all that without letting the ball touch the ground.
* Week 33 - Beitar Jerusalem lost at home all of a sudden to Hapoel Haifa, 1:3, after having a lead! A nil draw to Hapoel Beer-Sheva in Holon, and a 1:1 draw to Hapoel Kefar-Saba in Petakh-Tikwa, against Hapoel. And Maccabee Tel-Aviv had a hard time in Netanya - the hosts were 1:0 ahead, but the Yellows equalized, and though Gabi Elbaz parried the penalty kick of Itzhak Zohar (60), Avi Nimni came with a header again (89) to score a winner, 2:1 to the guests.
* The most interesting game was held in Tel-Aviv, where Maccabee Haifa had no easier time against Hapoel. Sergei Kandaurov scored (8), and Konstantin Marko equalized (11), but Alon Hazan continued with a ping-pong and rolled the ball after a fantastic dribbling effort between Jaroslav Baku's legs (13). Both sides attacked from that moment on, and Rafi Cohen registered several wonderful saves, but could do nothing against the bright shot of Yossi Madar from 20 meters (77), 2:2. And still, Haifa scored the winner, through Eyal Berkovich (86), 3:2.
Week 34 - 2:1 to Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa away against Hapoel Haifa, and 3:1 to Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv in Ashdod. 2:0 to Hapoel Kefar-Saba at home over Maccabee Herzliya, and it seemed to be secure against relegation; however, we love soccer for its impredicability. Just a nil draw to Maccabee Tel-Aviv at a home derby, and the same was achieved by Hapoel Beer-Sheva in Netanya. Beitar Jerusalem devastated Hapoel Tsafririm Holon at home, 6:1. And Maccabee Haifa, being saved early by the post after the penalty kick of Moti Kakun, recovered to beat Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 6:0 at home; Ivan Getsko, "The Player Of The Week", came on the pitch as a substitute after 23 minutes and scored a hat-trick.
Week 35 - 2:0 to Hapoel Haifa in Holon, and here Haifa started the story of its wonderful salvation; Hapoel Kefar-Saba achieved an away 2:2 draw against Bnei-Yehuda. 5:0 to Maccabee Ironi Ashdod away over Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa! Maccabee Haifa defeated Maccabee Herzliya away, 3:1, and Rafi Cohen in its net was "The Player Of The Week". Hapoel Beer-Sheva defeated Hapoel Tel-Aviv away, 1:0, and Maccabee Netanya surprised at home, 2:1 over Beitar Jerusalem. And the main surprise was provided by Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, with a wonderful victory at home, 2:1 over Maccabee Tel-Aviv - Avi Nimni had an opportunity to equalize, but the great Shai Hess parried his penalty kick in a great way. At the top - Maccabee Haifa 87, Maccabee Tel-Aviv 80, Beitar Jerusalem 59, Hapoel Beer-Sheva 58. At the bottom - Hapoel Haifa 26, Hapoel Kefar-Saba 30, Ironi Ashdod 35.
Week 36 - 1:1 to Hapoel Haifa at home against Maccabee Ironi Ashdod, and Hapoel Kefar-Saba registered a nil draw at home against Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa. Maccabee Tel-Aviv defeated Maccabee Herzliya at home, 2:1, and Maccabee Haifa registered a home victory against Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv, 1:0 from the goal of Alon Mizrahi; Shuli Gilardi, replacing the injured Victor Chanov in Bnei-Yehuda's net for all the 2nd half, was wonderful and kept the margin low. Hapoel Beer-Sheva defeated Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa at home, 2:1, and Beitar Jerusalem registered a disappointing home draw, 1:1 against Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
* Week 37 - Maccabee Haifa won the Championship! In Petakh-Tikwa, Ran Ben-Shimon scored from the penalty spot, but in the 2nd half, Eyal Berkovich did it and rolled a ball near Golan Malul to equalize, 1:1 to the fresh Champions away. And Bnei-Yehuda made the early Championship possible for Haifa, achieving a 2:2 home draw against Maccabee Tel-Aviv. The same result, 2:2, was registered by Hapoel Beer-Sheva in Herzliya, and Hapoel Tel-Aviv defeated Hapoel Tsafririm Holon at home, 4:0. A nil draw to Hapoel Kefar-Saba in Ashdod, and a 1:1 draw to Hapoel Haifa in Netanya; Alexander Podshivalov registered a superb performance in the net of Haifa, but his team found itself in a deep-deep trouble, with only a miracle able to save it from relegation.
* The most interesting game was held in Petakh-Tikwa, where Hapoel hosted Beitar Jerusalem. Vladimir Greshnev scored for Beitar, and Moti Kakun equalized. Greshnev scored again, from the penalty spot, and then again, this time a field goal; in between, Carmelo Mishish lost an opportunity to equalize, as Yaacov Asayag parried his penalty kick. But then Moti Kakun scored, from the penalty spot, and afterwards he equalized - Yaacov Asayag parried his penalty kick, the 4th penalty in this game, but Kakun was the first on the rebound. 3:3, a hat-trick of Greshnev against a hat-trick of Kakun.
* Week 38 - 1:1 to the fresh Champions at home against Maccabee Ironi Ashdod, after another bright performance of Bonnie Ginzburg in the guests' net. Maccabee Tel-Aviv does the same at home, against Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa. 3:0 to Hapoel Beer-Sheva at home over Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv, 1:0 at home to Beitar Jerusalem over Maccabee Herzliya.
* The most interesting game had been registered in Haifa, where the two relegation candidates met each other. Hapoel Haifa took the lead, but an own goal of Pesakh Grouper and a free kick of Yuriy Moroz changed the situation, giving an away lead to Kefar-Saba. Another Haifa's goal and an own goal of the same Yuriy Moroz gave the lead again to Hapoel Haifa, but Moti Eberbaum equalized. Haifa had to win in order to have at least the theoretical chances not to relegate, and it achieved the dear victory. The International referee Itzhak Ben-Itzhak added some 10 minutes, as the game was rude, and 2 red cards were shown, one to each team; and at the end of those minutes, Hisham Zoabi scored finally a winner to Haifa, 4:3.
* Week 39 - Maccabee Herzliya finished the season well, devastating Hapoel Tsafririm Holon at home, 5:1; Maccabee Netanya lost away to Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, 2:4. Maccabee Tel-Aviv won in Ashdod, 2:0. And the UEFA Cup place story ended in an unexpected way - Hapoel Beer-Sheva lost to Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa away, 0:1, but Beitar Jerusalem was humiliated deeply in Shkhunat-ha'Tikwa, losing 2:8 (!) to Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv! The goals of Vladimir Greshnev and Oleg Koshlyuk, well done for themselves, still didn't give any reparation for the worst ever Beitar's loss in the National League; knowing the fact that Beitar's players were aware of Beer-Sheva's loss, that's still hard to explain their defiance. Anyway, Beer-Sheva got the European ticket, thanks to its players and a wonderful work of its coach, Viko Hadad.
* However, the most interesting story was the story of relegation; here Hapoel Haifa defeated Hapoel Tel-Aviv away, 4:1 (!), and prayed for the victory of its city rival, the Champions, in Kefar-Saba. After just 3 minutes of play, Yaniv Cohen scored a goal and gave Kefar-Saba an early lead, and then, at the last minute of the 1st half, Carlos da Silva shot the penalty kick to the bar of Rafi Cohen and out, missing the 2:0. But in the 2nd half, it was a totally different story - Alon Hazan, Moshe Glam, Alon Harazi and Shai Holtzman scored to turn the score completely upside down, 4:1 to Maccabee Haifa away. Kefar-Saba relegated, and Hapoel Haifa stayed temporarily to play the two play-off games.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals GD Points 1 Maccabee Haifa 39 28 11 0 97-27 +70 95 EC1 ************************************************************************** 2 Maccabee Tel-Aviv 39 27 7 5 80-36 +44 88 EC2 3 Hapoel Beer-Sheva 39 18 11 10 54-38 +16 65 EC3 4 Beitar Jerusalem 39 19 7 13 75-66 + 9 64 5 Hapoel Tel-Aviv 39 16 6 17 61-59 + 2 54 6 Maccabee Netanya 39 13 10 16 64-71 - 7 49 7 Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 39 12 12 15 53-56 - 3 48 8 Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 39 11 14 14 37-46 - 9 47 9 Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 39 13 8 18 55-67 -12 47 10 Hapoel Tsafririm Holon 39 11 12 16 43-68 -25 45 11 Maccabee Herzliya 39 10 11 18 41-53 -12 41 12 Maccabee Ironi Ashdod 39 9 11 19 53-57 - 4 38 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 Hapoel Haifa 39 7 13 19 39-80 -41 34 ************************************************************************** 14 Hapoel Kefar-Saba 39 7 11 21 36-64 -28 32
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Alon Mizrahi (Maccabee Haifa) 28 ------------------------------------------------------- Itzhak Zohar (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 22 Moti Kakun (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) 21 Nikolai Kudritskiy (Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv) 20 Vladimir Greshnev (Beitar Jerusalem) 19 Amir Turgeman (Maccabee Ironi Ashdod) 17 Eli Ohana (Beitar Jerusalem) 16 Amir Avigdor (Hapoel Beer-Sheva) 16 Ronen Harazi (Beitar Jerusalem) 15 Roman Filipchuk (Maccabee Netanya) 13
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Hapoel Haifa - SHIMSHON TEL-AVIV 0:1
Shimshon Tel-Aviv - HAPOEL HAIFA 0:3
HAPOEL HAIFA won 3:1 on aggregate.
And so, Hapoel Haifa regained its place in the National League, after nearly losing it all of a sudden, and Shimshon Tel-Aviv had to play once again in the Country League and to try its luck once more.
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Unfortunate as it is, I don't remember anything here but the semifinals and the final. And of course, the 1/8 final game to leave Maccabee Haifa without a double. There, in Kiryat-Eliezer, Sergei Kandaurov opened the score after 15 minutes with a great flat kick to the close corner of Uvarov, but then, Gadi Brumer equalized with a brightly curved free kick (25), and Avi Nimni opened the 2nd half with a penalty kick converted into a goal, 2:1 to the guests. Haifa attacked vigorously, but Alexander Uvarov made several brilliant saves. Amongst them was "The Best Israeli Save Of The 90s" - Tsabar Daniel made a pass into the box, the ball hit the back of Alexander Polukarov and bounced over the advancing keeper, but Uvarov flew 2 meters back to reach the ball and to throw it up with his stretched back hand; the ball hit the bar, went to the post and touched the goal line (and much as I hate to say that, it was BEFORE the line and not after it), and then was cleared away by a defender.
At the semi-finals, the two games came to the penalty shoot-out. Maccabee Tel-Aviv, struggling mightily against Hapoel Tsafririm Holon of Eli Gutman and making it just 3:3, entered the finals after Alexander Uvarov had parried an after-match last penalty kick by Sergei Kolotovkin, 5:4. The game between Hapoel Tel-Aviv and Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa ended 1:1, and Alon Offir's second after-match penalty shot was parried by Golan Malul; however, Jaroslav Baku was superb in the other net, parrying 3 penalties (!) and giving Hapoel a ticket to the final with 3:1 on penalties.
The final was the last chance of Hapoel Tel-Aviv to play in Europe, as Maccabee Tel-Aviv would've been there anyway; however, Maccabee was better motivated and positioned on the field. After the scoreless first half Itzhak Zohar scored a magnificent free kick (49), and later on, Nir Klinger (73) was the first on the rebound, touching the ball before both Jaroslav Baku and Demian Lukashik. 2:0, and Maccabee that couldn't catch Maccabee Haifa in the League, found its consolation in winning the Cup.
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