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The CupThat was the 1st season of the 90-ies in which only 2 rounds were played, 30 games for each team, as the League had been enlarged to 16 teams. And it seemed like a perfect solution to bring the crowds to the stadia and to give all the Soccer fans the wonderful season; only the last week (!) gave us the names of the 2 relegating squads, the UEFA Cup participant and, the most important information, the Champions. Maccabee Tel-Aviv took the title after being steady for all the season; Maccabee Haifa was a very stubborn rival, but suffered from tides and low-tides, and, quoting its manager Giora Spiegel, "wasn't grown-up enough to win the Championship". We should mark also Hapoel Beer-Sheva of Vitaliy Shevchenko, the team that was stable and again achieved the European berth. And Hapoel Tel-Aviv of Moshe Sinai, the only team in the League that season that had a positive balance against the two Empires, surprised everybody by catching a European place as well; its keeper, Jaroslav Baku, being great in both his height and his skills, took the award of "The Best Israeli Keeper Of 1995", leaving behind Itzhak Korenfein of Beitar Tel-Aviv and, as usual, Alexander Uvarov of Maccabee Tel-Aviv.
Bnei-Yehuda, a year after Kudritskiy's death, based its game mostly on Sergei Gerasimets, who scored 11 goals in the 1st round and registered the real sensation in Europe, defeating Holland 1:0 in Belarus after his fantastic strike from a hard angle; however, he was just the shadow of himself in the 2nd round, and all the team played accordingly. This was also the story of Hapoel Beit-Shean, "The Surprise Of The First Round", depending fully on its Argentinian striker Claudio Kahimi; luckily for the Northerns, Kahimi gave them a wonderful skill in the last game, to be remembered for years and to leave the sympathetic team of Beit-Shean in the National League. (And didn't we all enjoy watching "Beit-Shean - the film of war" afterwards, no matter our supported teams? The Cinderella story seemed to always capture our mind.) Hapoel Rishon le-Zion surprised quite for good, and lots of thanks should go for it to its keeper, Shavit Elimelekh, and its 2 great foreigners with the WCs experiences, Ivan Yaremchuk from Ukraine and Marc van der Linden from Belgium; unfortunately, the unsportive exhibitionist show of Yaremchuk caused his deportation from Israel at the end of the season, leaving Rishon without "The Best Israeli Foreigner Of '95". The good surprises were produced also by Hapoel Tsafririm Holon and Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, though Petakh-Tikwa could've succeeded more, provided its wonderful start. And the disappointing squad was undoubtedly Maccabee Netanya; the wonder-team of the beginning of the 80-ies relegated unexpectedly. It was also the story of Maccabee Ironi Ashdod, and "the Syndrome of Bonnie Ginzburg" stroke once more; the team that managed to defeat the two Empires had the wonderful keeper and the two arguably best forwards in Israel, Amir Turgeman ("The Best Scorer Of '95", altogether with Haim Revivo) and Alon Mizrahi, but unexpectedly this wasn't enough. Hapoel Haifa and Maccabee Herzliya could've done better, too; however, the 1st even reached the Cup finals, and the 2nd sweated hard, but had two bright stars, the keeper Shuli Gilardi and the forward Offer Mizrahi, who made a tremendous effort during the last games and left the team in the National League.
We should mark also another feature of this season - a wide range of the foreign players (and several Israeli ones) changing their teams during the season. Marc van der Linden, starting in Maccabee Herzliya and being very promising there, had been suddenly thrown to Hapoel Rishon le-Zion, where he did a very good job. The two wonderful strikers, Alon Mizrahi and Shai Holtzman, left the top teams, Maccabee Tel-Aviv and Maccabee Haifa respectively, in order to flourish in Ashdod and Holon respectively. Gennady Remizov, starting the season in Rishon le-Zion, passed to Beitar Tel-Aviv; and another player of Rishon le-Zion, Valeriy Filimonov, scored a very important goal against Maccabee Haifa and still was released just 2 games afterwards. Herzliya's keeper, Valeriy Kleymenov, and Hapoel Beit-Shean's forward, Vladimir Zayarny, were thrown from their teams after just several games. Daniel Skantei, the Romanian striker of Hapoel Beer-Sheva, left for Beit-Shean to save it finally from the relegation. Vitaliy Mintenko of Maccabee Ironi Ashdod found himself later on in Herzliya. Maccabee Haifa had a serious trouble with its foreigners, as both the Ukrainean Vassili Kardash and Wilfred Moguy from Ghana were a total disappointment in the attacking line, and Oleg Kuznetsov, the fabulous defender of Dinamo Kiev, the ECWC'86 Winner and the EC'88 Vice-Champion, gave several bad games and parted from the team. Meir Melika didn't find his place either in Beitar Jerusalem or in Hapoel Tel-Aviv, where he played during the season. And so on, and so on...
Last but not the least, we should mark the two players of Maccabee Haifa who made a fantastic advancement during this season. Haim Revivo, taking some time to get in form, ended the season on a very high note, becoming both "The Best Player Of '95" and "The Best Scorer Of '95" (altogether with Amir Turgeman). And the 2nd man to mark was Offer Shitrit, a modest fellow from Hapoel Lod who was promoted 2 Leagues after the quarter of the Championship had been played, and still ended the season as one of the best scorers, with no less than 12 goals.
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Week 1 - Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa registered a great victory away, 5:3 over Maccabee Netanya, with 3 goals of Eyal Beglyabter. 3:1 to Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv at home over Hapoel Rishon le-Zion, and the same result is achieved by Hapoel Haifa in Holon, after a bright comeback. 4:2 to Maccabee Haifa at home, against Maccabee Herzliya. Hapoel Beer-Sheva defeated Beitar Tel-Aviv at home, 2:1; and only the brilliant game of Meir Cohen in the net of Hapoel Beit-Shean didn't let the hosts, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, devastate his team - just 1:0 to Petakh-Tikwa, from an early goal of Alon Maya. 2:2 to Beitar Jerusalem in Bloomfield - David Amsalem opened the score to Hapoel Tel-Aviv, Yaron Drori and Ronen Harazi performed a comeback (the latter with a rare in its beauty curved flying header over the hands of Jaroslav Baku to the bar and in), but Eyal Ben-Ami equalized to the hosts during the last minute. And the surprise had been registered in Ashdod, where Bonnie Ginzburg flew here and there to leave his goal clean, and Yoel Swissa bounced a last minute winner from 35 meters over the helpless Uvarov - 1:0 to Ashdod at home over the Vice-Champions Maccabee Tel-Aviv!
Week 2 - 3:1 to Hapoel Rishon le-Zion over Beitar Tel-Aviv away, and the same result was registered in Jerusalem, in favor of Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv; Michael Yaffe scored twice. 3:2 to Hapoel Beit-Shean at home over Tsafririm Holon, and 3:2 to Hapoel Tel-Aviv away over Hapoel Haifa. Maccabee Haifa did not manage to defeat Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa away, when the early goal of Eyal Berkovich was answered later on by Tal Bnaya; Hapoel Beer-Sheva had to fight in order just to equalize at home against Maccabee Ironi Ashdod, 1:1. Maccabee Netanya lost in Tel-Aviv to Maccabee, 1:2. And Maccabee Herzliya achieved a 2:2 home draw against Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, in the game full of action.
Week 3 - the penalty of Meir Azran (18) gave Hapoel Rishon le-Zion an important home victory over Beitar Jerusalem, 1:0. Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv defeated Hapoel Haifa at home in a very interesting game, 2:1; Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa won the home derby, 2:0. Claudio Kahimi scored, but Sagiv Eliyahu equalized later on, 1:1 to Hapoel Beit-Shean in Tel-Aviv against Hapoel. Maccabee Netanya defeated Hapoel Beer-Sheva at home, 3:2; Hapoel Tsafririm Holon defeated Maccabee Herzliya at home, 2:0. "The Empires Game" between Maccabee Haifa and Maccabee Tel-Aviv in Kiryat-Eliezer ended with 18 players (!), Amir Shelakh and Avi Nimni sent off in Tel-Aviv, Oleg Kuznetsov and Alon Hazan in Haifa; other than that, the game ended with no goals, and Uvarov saved his net in a great flight after a shot of Revivo. And Itzhak Korenfein became "The Player Of The Week", leaving his net clean after 8 tremendous saves and preserving the early winner of Shmuel Avrahami - 1:0 to Beitar Tel-Aviv in Ashdod.
Week 4 - 4:0, surprising somewhat, to Maccabee Tel-Aviv at home over Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, and the same result, no less surprising, was registered in Haifa, to Hapoel Rishon le-Zion over Hapoel Haifa; here, Felix Halfon scored a rare in its beauty goal, a bomb from an angle of virtually zero from outside the box under the bar of Yaacov Asayag. 3:0 to Maccabee Ironi Ashdod at home over Maccabee Netanya. 2:0 to Maccabee Herzliya over Hapoel Tel-Aviv at home, and Bnei-Yehuda was stopped away by Hapoel Beit-Shean, 0:0. Another nil draw was registered in Tel-Aviv, between the two Beitars - here Itzhak Korenfein parried the penalty kick of Vladimir Greshnev and registered several other brilliant saves, causing Amatsia Levkovich to be fired from training the capital team. 2:2 to Hapoel Tsafririm Holon away in Petakh-Tikwa, vs Maccabee; the refereeing sucked badly, and once the ball of Haim Goldberg landed after the goal-line (a fact confirmed officially by Petakh-Tikwa's keeper Golan Malul, after the game), but the referee robbed Holon and marked to go on playing. And Maccabee Haifa still remained unbeaten; the goal of Amir Avigdor in favor of Beer-Sheva (64) at home seemed so promising, but the young substitute Haim Silbas equalized greatly (86). The top - Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 10, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 9 (!), Maccabee Tel-Aviv, Maccabee Ironi Ashdod and Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 7. The bottom - Beitar Jerusalem 2 (!), Hapoel Haifa 3.
* Week 5 - 2:0 to Maccabee Netanya at home over Beitar Tel-Aviv, but Itzhak Korenfein, Beitar's keeper, was "The Man Of The Game", parrying the penalty kick of Avishai Zhano and being busy all the time, successfully enough. 3:1 to Hapoel Beer-Sheva away over Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, due to 2 great far-rangers of Victor Moroz. 3:0 to Maccabee Tel-Aviv in Holon. 2:0 to Hapoel Tel-Aviv over Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa at home, and the same result was achieved by Bnei-Yehuda, at home over Maccabee Herzliya; Sergei Gerasimets scored a superb curved goal from 18 meters to the right corner of Shuli Gilardi, but "The Best Of The Game" was Liran Strauber, Bnei-Yehuda's keeper. That was the keepers' week - Meir Cohen made a wonderful job in the net of Hapoel Beit-Shean in Rishon le-Zion, preserving the 1:0 away victory achieved from the goal of the Belgian player Willy Vincent. And the same result, 1:0, was achieved in Jerusalem, in the bottom game between Beitar Jerusalem and Hapoel Haifa, from the goal of Ronen Harazi; Haifa had Dani Malkin and Tal Banin sent off, and went down to the last place, being in trouble.
* And another Haifa's team found itself in trouble - Maccabee Haifa lost at home to Maccabee Ironi Ashdod; that was the end of the best ever Israeli League unbeaten series, 46 games without a loss, +31=15-0, 113-34, the series lasting for a year, 5 months and a week. Talking about the keepers' week, I was talking most of all about Bonnie Ginzburg, "The Player Of The Week" who made an impossible and found himself kneeling after the game, unable to breathe but raising his hands high; Maccabee Haifa registered one of its best games that season and made 34 (!) goal shots, most of them precise, but was frustrated time after time. Yoel Swissa scored a wonderful curved free kick from 25 meters on a counterattack (19), and Ginzburg parried 2 very dangerous balls of Kandaurov, a shot of Berkovich and a bomb of Hazan; Revivo's bomb found a post, and then came "The Save Of The Week" - Ginzburg closed Hazan well, and the rebound came to Revivo, who caressed the ball to send it home, however the keeper, still in the air (!), threw his hands aside in a cat flight to parry it to the corner. And in the 2nd half the trend went on; Amir Turgeman scored on a quick counterattack (46), and Ginzburg continued with his show, denying Hazan and parrying a penalty kick earned by Holtzman and shot badly by Kandaurov. Haifa managed to reduce the score when Sergei Kandaurov found Alon Harazi, and the defender sent a threatening bomb from 30 meters to the left low corner of Ginzburg (67). However, Haifa conceded another goal - Amir Turgeman sent a goal pass to the substitute Vitaliy Mintenko who had no problems against Rafi Cohen (83); Ronnie Levi reduced the score once again with a mighty header (88), but it wasn't enough. 3:2 to Ashdod in Haifa, in one of the greatest games seen that year in the League.
* Week 6 - a great free kick of Moti Mazuz gave Beitar Tel-Aviv a home victory, 1:0 over Hapoel Haifa which continued deteriorating; the same result was achieved in Tiberias, where Beitar Jerusalem defeated Hapoel Beit-Shean from an own goal of Jamil Hader. (Beit-Shean still couldn't play at home against the big rivals with the large audience). Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa made a home draw, 1:1 vs Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv; Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa won 3:1 in Ashdod, after a comeback. And Maccabee Haifa managed to win in Netanya, 2:1; here a lot of credit went to Rafi Cohen, who stopped an early penalty kick by Dimitry Mboyo.
* The most interesting game was in Ramat-Gan, the derby of Tel-Aviv. Maccabee attacked most of the time, but Sagiv Eliyahu astonished its defence twice to give his team a 2:0 lead away after the 1st half. Avi Nimni scored a couple of goals early in the 2nd half, the second one after a wonderful personal effort; however, it wasn't the day of Uvarov who made a fatal mistake, letting the ball of Krasimierz Muskal pass between his confused legs and hands. Alon Offir shot a good ball from 17 meters to set the final score, 4:2 to Hapoel Tel-Aviv away over Maccabee, the first derby victory of Hapoel in the 90-ies.
Week 7 - 7:0 to Hapoel Haifa over Hapoel Beit-Shean at home! 8:1 (!) to Beitar Jerusalem over Maccabee Herzliya at home; at that point Herzliya's coach, Eli Gutman, resigned. 3:1 to Tsafririm Holon at home over Ironi Ashdod; 2:0 to Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa at home over Maccabee Netanya. 1:1 to Hapoel Beer-Sheva in Tel-Aviv, against Hapoel - Marian Beko scored an early opener to Beer-Sheva, but later on Jaroslav Baku parried greatly a penalty kick of Amir Avigdor, and 2 minutes from time, Alon Offir used the ball lost by the keeper Shaul Smadja to equalize greatly from 25 meters. Maccabee Haifa lost again - being down 0:3 (!) in the 1st half after 2 goals of Yaniv Avvargeal [and we remember the second one, when the 17-years-old youngster overran the Vice-European Champion of '88, Oleg Kuznetsov, to score against Rafi Cohen] and one of Moshe Eisenberg, it scored only twice in the 2nd half, by Alon Hazan and Sergei Kandaurov, 2:3 at home to Beitar Tel-Aviv. And at the top game between Bnei-Yehuda and Maccabee Tel-Aviv in Shkhunat-ha'Tikwa, where both Alexander Uvarov and Liran Strauber showed a great skill in their nets, Sahar Mizrahi scored an early opener, but Yuriy Schukanov answered twice - 2:1 to Maccabee Tel-Aviv away, and the first loss that season of the Oranges.
Week 8 - Maccabee Haifa defeated Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa at home, 3:1, and Vassili Kardash scored there his only 2 goals in Haifa before being sent back to Ukraine. Maccabee Tel-Aviv defeated Hapoel Rishon le-Zion at home, 2:0; Avi Nimni scored a wonderful goal from 20 meters under the left keeper's crossbar and was "The Man Of The Game", but Shavit Elimelekh, Rishon's keeper, was "The Keeper Of The Week" after a series of magnificent saves. 3:0 to Hapoel Tel-Aviv in Ashdod (Sagiv Eliyahu scored twice), 3:2 to Maccabee Netanya at home over Hapoel Tsafririm Holon. 1:0 to Beitar Jerusalem in Petakh-Tikwa over Maccabee, through the wonderful curved ball of Meir Melika from 20 meters diagonally under the left crossbar of Golan Malul; the 4th consecutive victory of Beitar in the era of Yossi Mizrahi as its coach. And the most interesting game was the one in Beer-Sheva, where "The Soviet Ping-Pong" took place - Sergei Gerasimets opened the score for Bnei-Yehuda, Victor Moroz equalized with another far-ranger, Gerasimets scored again and Moroz equalized once more, and then Gerasimets completed a personal hat-trick from the penalty spot, but now it was the turn of Oren Sagron to level the score, after 92 minutes of play; 3:3 to Bnei-Yehuda in Beer-Sheva, a very disappointing draw for the Oranges since the team had been ahead 3 times.
Week 9 - Itzhak Korenfein parried a penalty kick sent by Carmelo Mishish, but his team, Beitar Tel-Aviv, still lost away, 0:2 to Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa. Offer Shitrit, coming as a substitute in the 2nd half, in his first game in the squad of Maccabee Haifa, scored after 65 minutes of play to bring his team a 1:0 away victory in Holon; the same score brought victories to Hapoel Beer-Sheva in Rishon le-Zion, and to Hapoel Tel-Aviv at home over Maccabee Netanya. Hapoel Beit-Shean defeated Maccabee Herzliya at home, 2:0. And Beitar Jerusalem registered another victory, this time 2:1 at home over Maccabee Tel-Aviv, the header of Tomer Azulai and the wonderful volley kick from under the defender by Ronen Harazi against the far-ranger of Yaacov Hillel.
* Week 10 - a goal of Yaniv Avvargeal gave Beitar Tel-Aviv a home victory over Maccabee Herzliya, 1:0; 0:0 to Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa in Beit-Shean. 4:0 to Maccabee Tel-Aviv at home over the pathetic Hapoel Haifa. 3:3 in a very interesting game in Ashdod, between Maccabee Ironi Ashdod and Hapoel Rishon le-Zion; 2:2 to Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv in Netanya after a 2:0 lead of the home team. In the top game in Beer-Sheva, Hapoel defeated Beitar Jerusalem 2:1; Giora Antman parried a penalty kick by Victor Moroz, but on the other hand, Shaul Smadja parried later on a penalty kick by Eli Ohana.
* And another top game, held in Haifa, was of a great interest and quality. The hosts missed a great opportunity to open the score, after Jaroslav Baku parried the penalty kick sent by Eyal Berkovich, and then parried superbly the rebound; however, Haifa still scored an opener through Sergei Kandaurov, after a goal pass by Eyal Berkovich (30). Alon Offir shot 2 bright free kicks (38, 57) to turn the score upside down, and Rafi Cohen, breaking his thumb during the game, still managed to raise himself to another free kick of Offir and to parry it from under his crossbar; later on, Sergei Kandaurov saved the ball of Muskal from the line. On the other hand, Baku was great and parried all the shots of Maccabee Haifa, up to the 86th minute - then, Berkovich found Roman Pets, and the later shot an unstoppable left-footer to beat the keeper, 2:2 to Hapoel Tel-Aviv in Kiryat-Eliezer against Maccabee Haifa.
* Week 11 - a fantastic week. 3:1 to Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa in Herzliya after a comeback, and Beitar Jerusalem scored twice after an early opener of Amir Turgeman, 2:1 at home over Maccabee Ironi Ashdod. A wonderful victory of Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa away over Hapoel Tel-Aviv, 3:0, and Hapoel Tsafririm Holon defeated Beitar Tel-Aviv at home, 3:1. Hapoel Beit-Shean surprised everybody, defeating Maccabee Tel-Aviv at home, 2:1 after the mistakes of Uvarov. And Sagi Strauss, replacing Rafi Cohen in the net of Maccabee Haifa, was beaten by Netsakh Masoubi, but Offer Shitrit, Alon Hazan (with a wonderful rocket from 25 meters to the right corner of Liran Strauber at half a height) and Haim Revivo with a penalty kick answered - 3:1 to Maccabee Haifa away over Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv after a comeback.
* In Haifa, Hapoel Beer-Sheva had a 2:0 lead after 19 minutes of play, but it was erased 13 minutes later. After a break, Shaul Smadja dived fantastically and parried a penalty kick of Reuven Attar (53), but the same Attar made a goal pass to Offer Talker one minute from time, 3:2 to Hapoel Haifa after a cool comeback.
* The top was occupied with no less than 7 teams (!) - Beitar Jerusalem and Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 20 pts; Maccabee Tel-Aviv, Maccabee Haifa, Hapoel Tel-Aviv, Hapoel Beer-Sheva and Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 19 pts. At the bottom - Maccabee Herzliya 6 points, and 4 teams above, with 11 points each.
* Week 12 - a great 5:2 to Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa away over Beitar Tel-Aviv, and 3:1 to Beer-Sheva at home over Hapoel Beit-Shean; here we'll remember the great scissors kick of Claudio Kahimi from 18 meters, parried superbly by the keeper to a corner. All the other games ended equally. Bnei-Yehuda achieved an away 1:1 draw vs Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, and Hapoel Rishon le-Zion achieved the same away vs Maccabee Haifa - Valeriy Filimonov scored after a bad save by Sagi Strauss (73), and Haim Revivo equalized from the white spot (77). 1:1 to Hapoel Haifa in Ashdod, where a great free kick by Tal Banin (42) was answered after 81 minutes. The scoreless draws to Hapoel Tel-Aviv in Holon, and to Beitar Jerusalem in Netanya.
* The best game of that season was played in Ramat-Gan, where Maccabee Herzliya was hosted by Maccabee Tel-Aviv. Offer Mizrahi started with a fantastic personal effort to score, 1:0 to Herzliya; Eli Driks bombed the bar of Shuli Gilardi and met a rebound with his own header to equalize, 1:1. In another attack, Offer Mizrahi sent a charming bounce over Uvarov from 18 meters, 2:1 to Herzliya; however, Eli Driks equalized once again, 2:2. Another penetration of Offer Mizrahi, "The Player Of The Week", resulted in a foul on him within the box; Yossi Madar converted the penalty, 3:2, and this was the score of the 1st half. Ater the break, however, the picture changed - Nir Klinger equalized, and then Amit Levi gave Maccabee Tel-Aviv a lead of 4:3. Here the victory seemed secure in the pocket of the Vice-Champions, but Moshe Amsalem thought otherwise, scoring a goal which I personally graded as "The 3rd Goal Of The Season". Getting a ball from Nissim Cohen 18 meters diagonally from the net, Amsalem shot without stopping and without a previous run a magnificent curved ball that passed over the stretched hands of flying Uvarov and entered under his right crossbar, kissing the bar beforehand. 4:4 in a game to get a mark of 9, the first time after Haifa's victory in Parma.
Week 13 - 4:2 to Hapoel Tel-Aviv over Beitar Tel-Aviv at home, and we remember the wonderful strike of Krasimierz Muskal from 35 meters under the bar of Korenfein, and a mistake of Korenfein who slipped the ball of Alon Offir between his legs home. 3:2 to Maccabee Haifa in Jerusalem; 3:1 to Maccabee Netanya in Haifa, over Hapoel. The goal of Nassim Agbariya 2 minutes from time was a winner, 1:0 to Hapoel Beit-Shean at home over Maccabee Ironi Ashdod; the same result was registered in Herzliya, where Yossi Madar beat Shaul Smadja after a great preparation of Offer Mizrahi (79). Oren Mukharer scored in Rishon le-Zion, giving an away victory to Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa, 1:0; the same score to Maccabee Tel-Aviv away against Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa, and Ben Luz, the 16.5-years-old youngster, scored an early winner, 3 minutes in his career (!). And Bnei-Yehuda, being down at home 0:2 after 2 goals by Hezi Shirazi, managed to register a perfect comeback, defeating Hapoel Tsafririm Holon 3:2.
Week 14 - 4:0 to Maccabee Haifa in a home derby, and Sergei Kandaurov scored a wonderful goal, a shot from 18 meters to the bar of Yaacov Asayag and in. 1:0 to Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa over Beitar Jerusalem at home, after a good shot of Yossi Levi from 20 meters. And in Bloomfield, the early goal of Netsakh Masoubi was answered by 2 resultive shots of Sagiv Eliyahu, after the 2 mistakes of Liran Strauber in the net of Bnei-Yehuda - 2:1 to Hapoel Tel-Aviv at home. A nil draw to Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa in Beer-Sheva, and Maccabee Tel-Aviv defeated Beitar Tel-Aviv away, 2:1, though Itzhak Korenfein parried a penalty kick shot by Itzhak Zohar.
Week 15 - the free kick of Haim Revivo and the penalty of Sergei Kandaurov were answered by Nimrod Elbaz and the penalty kick of Claudio Kahimi, just a 2:2 draw to Maccabee Haifa in Beit-Shean. Hapoel Haifa defeated Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa at home, 2:0 from the header by Tal Banin and a curved bomb from 18 meters by Eitan Aharoni; Maccabee Herzliya defeated Maccabee Netanya at home, 2:0 from a pair of goals by Offer Mizrahi. Beitar Tel-Aviv astonished Bnei-Yehuda away, 3:2, and Hapoel Tsafririm Holon had Shai Holtzman who scored a winner in Jerusalem, 1:0. In a very important top game, Ben Luz scored a winner again, 1:0 to Maccabee Tel-Aviv over Hapoel Beer-Sheva at home. And the best goal of that week, a winner as well, was scored in Rishon le-Zion - a great series of one-touch passes, Assaf Dagai - Marc van der Linden - Ivan Yaremchuk - Marc van der Linden, was finished with a volley strike of the latter from 20 meters (83), beating Jaroslav Baku; the wonderful Polish keeper parried the penalty kick of the same van der Linden (89), but couldn't deny him the victory and "The Man Of The Game" award.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals GD Points 1 Maccabee Tel-Aviv 15 9 2 4 29-16 +13 29 2 Maccabee Haifa 15 7 6 2 31-20 +11 27 3 Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 15 8 3 4 21-17 + 4 27 4 Hapoel Tel-Aviv 15 7 5 3 25-19 + 6 26 5 Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 15 6 5 4 28-22 + 6 23 6 Hapoel Beer-Sheva 15 6 5 4 24-18 + 6 23 7 Beitar Jerusalem 15 6 3 6 21-16 + 5 21 8 Hapoel Beit-Shean 15 5 6 4 16-21 - 5 21 9 Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 15 4 6 5 16-15 + 1 18 10 Beitar Tel-Aviv 15 5 2 8 19-29 -10 17 11 Hapoel Tsafririm Holon 15 4 4 7 19-24 - 5 16 12 Maccabee Netanya 15 4 4 7 20-26 - 6 16 13 Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 15 3 6 6 20-19 + 1 15 14 Hapoel Haifa 15 4 3 8 22-28 - 6 15 15 Maccabee Ironi Ashdod 15 3 5 7 17-25 - 8 14 16 Maccabee Herzliya 15 3 5 7 17-30 -13 14
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Week 16 - Hapoel Tel-Aviv achieved a nil draw in Jerusalem, and Bnei-Yehuda made a 2:2 draw in Rishon le-Zion, after being 0:2 down. Yossi Madar scored a penalty kick, but Offer Shitrit (twice), Haim Revivo and Ronnie Levi managed to answer - 4:1 to Maccabee Haifa in Herzliya. 3:0 to Maccabee Tel-Aviv at home over the deteriorating squad of Maccabee Ironi Ashdod; 2:1 to Hapoel Beer-Sheva over Beitar Tel-Aviv away, with the 2 goals that came as a reaction to the early header by Vickey Bukovza. 2:0 to Maccabee Netanya against Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa away, and the goal of Shai Holtzman was enough for Holon to defeat Hapoel Haifa away, 1:0. And Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa defeated Hapoel Beit-Shean, 4:0 away; the 2nd goal of Carmelo Mishish there, making the score 3:0, was given "The Goal Of The Season" award, after being scored from 52 meters (!), a bounce from the mid-circle over Meir Cohen.
Week 17 - 2:1 to Hapoel Rishon le-Zion at home over Beitar Tel-Aviv; Bnei-Yehuda defeated Beitar Jerusalem at home in a fantastic game, 4:2. A great comeback to Hapoel Beit-Shean that won 3:1 in Holon; this was the last victory of Beit-Shean before the long crisis and the fantastic salvation. Adoram Keisi defeated Maccabee Herzliya, 1:0 to Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa at home. A 1:1 away draw to Hapoel Haifa in Tel-Aviv, against Hapoel - Tal Banin exploited the mistake of Jaroslav Baku to score, but Alon Offir saved his team again, with a strike from 35 meters under the right crossbar of Yaacov Asayag. Hapoel Beer-Sheva achieved just a nil draw in Ashdod. A striking surprise was registered in Haifa, where Ran Ben-Shimon headed the ball home quite early, and Golan Malul, "The Keeper Of The Week", gave a fantastic performance in Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa's net to preserve the score, 1:0 away against Maccabee Haifa. And Maccabee Tel-Aviv opened a gap of 5 points at the top, devastating Maccabee Netanya away, 6:1; Avi Nimni scored a hat-trick and became "The Player Of The Week".
* Week 18 - Beitar Jerusalem defeated Hapoel Rishon le-Zion away, 2:1; Maccabee Herzliya lost at home to Hapoel Tsafririm Holon, 1:4. Hapoel Haifa defeated Bnei-Yehuda at home - a keeper's ball of Yaacov Asayag 85 meters forward found Eyal Amar in the rival's box, and the latter volleyed it from 15 meters above Liran Strauber. Nassim Agbariya scored after 86 minutes of play, but Hapoel Tel-Aviv equalized with a last minute penalty by Sagiv Eliyahu, 1:1 away in Beit-Shean to the team of Moshe Sinai. Hapoel Beer-Sheva beat the hosts in Netanya, 4:1 at home, and Maccabee Ironi Ashdod crashed Beitar Tel-Aviv away - 6:0; a hat-trick was scored by Alon Mizrahi, and he became "The Player Of The Week". And in "The Game Of The Season", Maccabee Haifa defeated Maccabee Tel-Aviv, 3:0 away, through the goals of Haim Revivo (32), Eyal Berkovich (44) and Offer Shitrit (88); the goal of Revivo was "The 2nd Best Goal Of The Season", when he inclined his body well and shot a terrific left-footed volley killer from 30 meters to the left corner of Uvarov at half a height after a deflection from the head of Amir Shelakh.
* The most controversial game was, no doubt, the derby of Petakh-Tikwa. At the state of 1:0 to Hapoel, Maccabee's keeper Golan Malul was sent off, and here it turned out Maccabee had no reserve keeper! (The usual deputy keeper, Yossi Betsalel, was in the military reserve service.) Raz Rabinovich, the defender of Maccabee, entered the goal and even registered several nice saves, but was helpless twice - first, after a bright header of his own defender, Sharon Tsofin, into his own net (!), and then after a close-ranged shot of Eli Abrabanel (94). The International Israeli referee, Itzhak Ben-Itzhak, counted all the time wasted during Malul's scandal, and therefore, Alexander Gaiduk could reduce the score (99). 3:1 to Hapoel away in a derby that continued 100 minutes instead of 90. Who could've thought this will become a normal practice in just several years all over the world?..
Week 19 - Maccabee Ironi Ashdod achieved a nil draw in Netanya, and Maccabee Herzliya in Tel-Aviv, against Hapoel. Maccabee Haifa defeated Hapoel Beer-Sheva at home, 3:1, and Rafi Cohen parried the penalty sent by Sergei Gusev; on the other hand, we should also mark the good keeping of Shaul Smadja at the other net. A wonderful bomb of Sergei Tretyak from 18 meters just before the break left Itzhak Korenfein helpless, 1:0 to Beitar Jerusalem over Beitar Tel-Aviv at home. Hapoel Haifa defeated Hapoel Rishon le-Zion away, 3:0, scoring the last 2 goals quite near the end. And in the game in Petakh-Tikwa, the game Uvarov still gets the nightmares remembering, Alon Maya scored for the hosts, Alon Brumer equalized with a bright kick under the bar, and Moti Kakun gave the lead again to the hosts, but Nir Sevilla headed it home twice to bring a victory to the leaders - 3:2 to Maccabee Tel-Aviv away over Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa.
Week 20 - Beitar Tel-Aviv defeated Maccabee Netanya, 3:1 at home, and Maccabee Haifa did it in Ashdod, 6:1; Haim Revivo became "The Player Of The Week", with 2 goals and 3 goal passes (!). 3:1 to Maccabee Tel-Aviv at home over Tsafririm Holon; 2:2 to Hapoel Tel-Aviv against Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa away. The 2 important victories were registered by Maccabee Herzliya, 1:0 at home over Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv, and by Hapoel Rishon le-Zion, 3:1 away in Beit-Shean. And 2:2 at home to Hapoel Haifa against Beitar Jerusalem - here we remember the equalizer of Eli Ohana, who stopped the ball on his chest in the box, turned around and shot a wonderful curved ball under the right crossbar of Yaacov Asayag, without actually seeing the net.
Week 21 - Hapoel Haifa made it 2:2 at home again, this time against Beitar Tel-Aviv. Beitar Jerusalem found itself down at home, but managed to equalize; 1:1 against Hapoel Beit-Shean. 1:1 to Maccabee Herzliya in Rishon le-Zion. Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa took an away lead 2:0 after just 4 (!) minutes of play, and the beautiful goal of Sergei Gerasimets (71) became just a reducer; 2:1 over Bnei-Yehuda away. The great comebacks to Hapoel Beer-Sheva in Holon and to Maccabee Haifa at home, against Maccabee Netanya, 2:1 to each winning side. 2:2 to Maccabee Ironi Ashdod in Petakh-Tikwa, against Hapoel. And the most important: Jaroslav Baku sealed his net hermetically away in a Tel-Aviv derby, 0:0, and Maccabee Haifa turned out to be at the top, for the only week that season. At the top - Maccabee Haifa and Maccabee Tel-Aviv 42 pts, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 36 pts, Hapoel Beer-Sheva 34 pts. At the bottom - Maccabee Herzliya 19 pts, Maccabee Ironi Ashdod and Maccabee Netanya 20 pts, Beitar Tel-Aviv 21 pts, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 22 pts.
* Week 22 - 2:1 to Hapoel Beer-Sheva over Hapoel Tel-Aviv at home, stopping the series of 6 Tel-Avivian draws. 1:1 to Hapoel Tsafririm Holon in Ashdod, 2:2 to Rishon le-Zion in Petakh-Tikwa, against Maccabee. Maccabee Tel- Aviv defeated Bnei-Yehuda, 2:0 at home, both goals scored during the last 10 minutes. A 3:0 victory away to Hapoel Haifa in Beit-Shean, and Maccabee Herzliya beat Beitar Jerusalem at home, 3:1. And Maccabee Netanya defeated Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa at home - 1:0.
* The greatest surprise was registered in Tel-Aviv, where the local Beitar hosted Maccabee Haifa. Maccabee attacked all the time, but saw Itzhak Korenfein, "The Player Of The Week", in his best; he registered also "The Save Of The Year", when he reacted to a fantastic volley kick of Haim Revivo diagonally from 16 meters to his left low corner and managed to push the ball away to a corner. Korenfein parried later on the shots of Revivo, Kandaurov, Hazan, Berkovich and Shitrit; and in between, there was a counter-attack in which Ronen Schweig made a pass to the box, Moshe Eisenberg headed it home, Rafi Cohen flew to parry the ball and Yaniv Avvargeal, in his first touch after he came to the pitch as a substitute, went on the rebound to score, 1:0 to Beitar.
Week 23 - Hapoel Tsafririm Holon defeated Maccabee Netanya, 5:2 at home, and Hapoel Haifa made just a home draw against Maccabee Herzliya, 1:1. 2:0 to Beitar Jerusalem over Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa at home, and Maccabee Tel-Aviv defeated Hapoel Rishon le-Zion away, 3:1. 2:1 at home to Hapoel Tel-Aviv over Maccabee Ironi Ashdod, and to Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv over Hapoel Beer-Sheva. 6:0 to Beitar Tel-Aviv away against Hapoel Beit-Shean! And Sergei Kandaurov, having the steel-made nerves, took a last minute penalty in Petakh-Tikwa to score - 2:1 to Maccabee Haifa away over Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa.
* Week 24 - Maccabee Ironi Ashdod defeated Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv, 3:0 at home, and Hapoel Beer-Sheva did it at home too, 4:2 against Rishon. 6:0 to Maccabee Haifa at home over Hapoel Tsafririm Holon, Offer Shitrit and Haim Revivo scoring twice each, and what the goals! 4:0 to Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa at home over Hapoel Haifa, the first loss of Viko Hadad as a coach since he took the team after Week 16. And Maccabee Tel-Aviv could achieve just a scoreless draw against Beitar Jerusalem at home, after a great performance of Giora Antman in the guests' net.
* The most interesting game was registered between Beitar Tel-Aviv and Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa. Beitar took a lead of 2:0, the 2nd goal scored with a bright scissors kick of Shahin Danayev from within the box. Hapoel made the impossible and came back to make it 3:2 in its favor, and Ronen Schweig managed to equalize for Beitar. The game seemed to end like this, when several minutes from time, Danayev raised his leg again to shoot yet another bomb, this time from 17 meters to the bar and in. 4:3 to Beitar Tel-Aviv.
Week 25 - Hapoel Haifa lost again, 1:2 at home to Maccabee Tel-Aviv, the guests can be appreciated twice for that, since they did it in 9 players, Nir Klinger and Avi Nimni sent off. And the joy of Tel-Aviv was even bigger, after Hapoel Tel-Aviv defeated Maccabee Haifa, 1:0 at home, from an early goal of Shakhar Cohen. Beitar Jerusalem managed to make a comeback on the expense of Hapoel Beer-Sheva, 2:1 at Teddy. And the game between Hapoel Rishon le-Zion and Maccabee Ironi Ashdod, this time in Rishon, ended 3:3 again; Bonnie Ginzburg became the hero again, parrying the penalty of Ivan Yaremchuk several minutes from time.
* Week 26 - Beitar Tel-Aviv lost at home, 3:4 to Tsafririm Holon, in an exciting game. Haim Shabo defeated Maccabee Herzliya with a far-ranger, 1:0 to Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa at home; the same was the result in Ramat-Gan, in a very important game between Maccabee Tel-Aviv from the top and Hapoel Beit-Shean from the bottom - here the greatest sportive injustice had been made, as the referee Dani Koren added 5 minutes of injury time, and on the 94th minute a shot from 30 meters of Yuriy Schukanov passed between the legs of Beit-Shean's keeper Shlomi Maman, the best player on the pitch up to that very minute. 2:0 to Maccabee Haifa at home over Bnei-Yehuda, where the second keeper Lavi Kuznetski was good enough, but couldn't stop a Negrete-styled scissors kick of Sergei Kandaurov from 17 meters, to his left post and in. And 2 goals of Ohana and one of each Sergei Tretyak, Vladimir Greshnev and Istvan Salloi were enough to erase the early advantage of Amir Turgeman and a penalty kick temporary equalizer by Alon Mizrahi, 5:2 to Jerusalem in Ashdod.
* The most interesting game was held in Beer-Sheva, where Hapoel hosted Hapoel Haifa. Haifa opened the score in the 1st half, Beer-Sheva made a comeback and took a lead of 2:1 in the 2nd half, before Tal Banin equalized after 81 minutes. The game seemed to end with a draw, but Beer-Sheva scored one of the best goals of that year - Gadi Hazut took a free kick (85) from 38 meters (!) and bombed it to the right high corner of Yaacov Asayag, the keeper just touching the ball in a desperate flight. And the last accord was of Sergei Gusev, beating Asayag from inside the box, 4:2 to Beer-Sheva.
* At the top - Maccabee Tel-Aviv 55 pts, Maccabee Haifa 51 pts, Hapoel Beer-Sheva 43 pts, Hapoel Tel-Aviv 40 pts. At the bottom - Maccabee Ironi Ashdod 25 pts, Maccabee Netanya 26 pts, Hapoel Haifa and Hapoel Beit-Shean 28 pts, Maccabee Herzliya and Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 29 pts, Beitar Tel-Aviv 30 pts.
The bottom fights at this very moment became very harsh and the most thrilling the League knew lastly, as most of the teams met each other or the top rivals. The top teams were also aspiring to take the points, and so the end of the League season was breathtaking, no exaggeration.
Week 27 - Alexander Uvarov was sent off, and Amir Shelakh followed him later on, but this wasn't enough for Maccabee Herzliya to defeat Maccabee Tel-Aviv at home, just 0:0. Maccabee Netanya registered a very important victory in Jerusalem, 2:0 over Beitar. 2:1 to Hapoel Beer-Sheva in Beit-Shean, and Hapoel Rishon le-Zion achieved a surprising home draw against Maccabee Haifa - Ivan Yaremchuk opened the score with a clever bounce over Rafi Cohen, Haim Revivo equalized later on with a terrific volley bomb from 16 meters, but the Greens were unable to take all the points. 1:0 to Beitar Tel-Aviv away vs Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa. And the very important bottom game was held in Haifa; here Alon Mizrahi failed twice in front of a superb Yaacov Asayag, and then the keeper flew in a magnificent way to parry a far-ranger by Amir Turgeman; in the 2nd half the story was different, as Ahmed Musa and Tal Banin scored for Hapoel Haifa, 2:0 to the hosts against Maccabee Ironi Ashdod. After this game, Ashdod's manager Rafi Aspormas stated that if the team took 7 points out of the remaining 9, it would be enough to stay; the astonishing thing was that Ashdod HAD TAKEN 7 points out of 9 possible, but it WASN'T enough.
Week 28 - 3:1 to Hapoel Tel-Aviv away over Beitar Tel-Aviv, 5:2 to Tsafririm Holon at home over Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv. Hapoel Rishon le-Zion made a giant step towards another season in the National League, defeating Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 2:0 away; Maccabee Haifa defeated Beitar Jerusalem at home, 3:0, and enjoyed the home 2:2 draw of Maccabee Tel-Aviv against Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa to close the top gap down to just 2 points. Hapoel Beer-Sheva devastated Maccabee Herzliya at home, 4:1. And the 2 bottom games of utter importance were held. In Netanya, Hapoel Haifa achieved a draw to save the team, 2:2. And in Ashdod, the 2 goals of Amir Turgeman were answered by the 2 goals of Hapoel Beit-Shean, but the last word was of Alon Mizrahi 2 minutes from time, 3:2 to Ashdod over Hapoel Beit-Shean which fell down into a real trouble.
* Week 29 - 1:1 between Bnei-Yehuda and Hapoel Tel-Aviv in Shkhunat-ha'Tikwa, 3:3 to Hapoel Beer-Sheva in Petakh-Tikwa against Maccabee. A nil draw to Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa in Jerusalem, and Hapoel Tsafririm Holon devastated Hapoel Rishon le-Zion away in a superb performance, 5:2. 4:0 at home to Maccabee Tel-Aviv over Beitar Tel-Aviv, and Maccabee Haifa won with difficulties in derby, 3:2 - Haim Revivo failed to beat Yaacov Asayag from a penalty spot, but made 2 goal passes, and the defending Champions scored 3 goals, answered by 2 converted penalties of Reuven Attar.
* The 2 bottom games were of utter importance, and their results complicated the whole situation even more. Hapoel Beit-Shean managed to defeat Maccabee Netanya at home, 1:0, and gave itself the slightest chance to stay in the League for the next year. And Bonnie Ginzburg became "The Player Of The Week", after a performance he registered in Herzliya. The keeper denied the shots of Offer Mizrahi and Nissim Cohen, parried the bomb of Yossi Madar and flew superbly to parry the good header of Vitaliy Mintenko from his right corner, at half a height. The efforts of Herzliya were fruitless, and then came Amir Turgeman to beat Shuli Gilardi twice (57, 68) and to bring an away victory to his team, Maccabee Ironi Ashdod.
* And so, before the last week, there was no unimportant game left; the hearts were beating. The game between Beitar Tel-Aviv (33, 42-59) and Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (33, 42-48) could've been considered the least interesting, since actually both of the teams secured their place in the National League, but still, there was a slightest chance of relegation for each of them. Hapoel Tel-Aviv (44, 39-31), aspiring to earn the 2nd UEFA berth, was playing at home against Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (33, 38-43) that also was in a certain relegation danger; the same was the story of the game between Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa (43, 41-35) and Hapoel Haifa (32, 44-50). Hapoel Tsafririm Holon (44, 55-53) had to play at home against Beitar Jerusalem (41, 39-35), which already had no chance to reach Europe, but could deny such from Holon.
* And the most thrilling games are still to be described. Maccabee Ironi Ashdod (31, 41-51) had to meet Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa (34, 39-40). Maccabee Herzliya (30, 29-49) and Maccabee Netanya (30, 33-49) were meeting each other, when the draw would be fatal for both teams, and the victory of one of them would give it only a slight hope to stay, making the loser relegate beyond any doubt. Beit-Shean (31, 27-48) was the second most possible candidate for relegation, since it was meeting Maccabee Haifa (58, 66-31) away; Haifa had all the advantages from winning this game, as it would've brought the Greens another Championship, in all probability. And why so? Because Maccabee Tel-Aviv (60, 58-27) was playing against Hapoel Beer-Sheva (50, 54-38), the team already secure at the 3rd place, but the team for which it was a question of honour to stay unbeaten at home; before that game it had a great home record of +9=5-0, 33-15. So, that was the situation.
* Week 30 - Beitar Tel-Aviv and Bnei-Yehuda, Hapoel Tel-Aviv and Hapoel Rishon le-Zion, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa and Hapoel Haifa - all these had their games ended with 1:1 draws. Marco Ben-Barukh opened the score in Holon with an early penalty, but Istvan Salloi of Beitar Jerusalem replied with a hat-trick, twice from a penalty spot, 3:1 to Beitar away. And so, Hapoel Tel-Aviv took the sweet 4th place, leading to the UEFA Cup participation, and all the abovementioned bottom teams stayed in the National League. And here came the most interesting games, the questions of the Championship and the relegation to be solved, to bring tears to the losers and Champagne to the winners.
* A goal pass of Daniel Brailovsky, and Offer Mizrahi flew to head it home, 1:0 to Maccabee Herzliya in Netanya. In Beer-Sheva, a header of Nir Klinger was denied by Shaul Smadja, and then, Igal Zrihen used the mistake of Golan Malul to beat him in Ashdod, 1:0 to Ironi at home. Back to Netanya - Herzliya stayed in 9 players, but had Shuli Gilardi in a swan song of his, clenching his teeth for the last 90 minutes of the season and denying any Netanya's effort. Nir Sevilla shot the ball from 30 meters in Beer-Sheva, and Shaul Smadja dived superbly to parry it from his left low corner. Netanya again - here, after the 72 minutes of the game, both teams were in 9 players. Gilardi flew acrobatically to deny Roman Filipchuk's header, and Alex Barmecher parried a dangerous ball from the line. And here came a final whistle! The players of Netanya were spent, and the pictures of the crying Roman Filipchuk would be shown again and again for a week and more; on the other hand, Herzliya's players raised their hands, but the joy was still incomplete.
Haifa entered the thriller, and Offer Shitrit beat Meir Cohen after a great pass of Eyal Berkovich, 34 minutes passed. Another 3 minutes, and the couple Berkovich - Shitrit worked again, 2:0 to Haifa. The Greens were feeling the future Champions even despite Claudio Kahimi's immediate reducer from a penalty spot, after a foul on Daniel Skantei. The stadium was roaring in pleasure. But no more! 44 minutes in Beer-Sheva have passed, and a free kick of Nir Klinger found the powerful header of Alon Brumer from within the box, 1:0 to Maccabee Tel-Aviv.
* Alexander Gaiduk got a ball in Ashdod's box to beat Bonnie, 1:1. The game was over, and Gaiduk became the hero of Herzliya, as this team was save - Ashdod and Netanya finally fell behind. But Beit-Shean was still in trouble. Hapoel Beer-Sheva tried in vain to beat Uvarov, and there the stadium of Beer-Sheva was colored in yellow again - Shimon Danan found Daniel Skantei in Haaifa's box, and the latter beat a badly positioned Rafi Cohen, 2:2 for Beit-Shean.
* Ashdod suddenly felt unsecure, and its players ran to the radio, to hear the news from the North. In Beer-Sheva, after 84 minutes of play, the gates were opened, and the game was finished for the sake of the Championship. In Haifa, the Green stadium was sad, as the Championship was lost to the most hated rival of the Greens, the Yellows from Maccabee Tel-Aviv. And here the port cities had a real problem, as life stopped in Haifa and Ashdod. Daniel Skantei was knocked down 18 meters diagonally to the net, and Claudio Kahimi curved a free kick to Rafi Cohen's left low corner, 3:2 to the outsiders.
* Ashdod refused to believe, and the pictures of Roman Filipchuk were being added by those of Yoel Swissa, a man who scored two magnificent goals against the 2 Empires but relegated at the end. And Beit-Shean was happy, as its players celebrated circling the Kiryat-Eliezer stadium, under the roar of its fans. And the season was ended with another wonderful thing - the Green stadium, disappointed as it was, still stood up to applaud the little team which made the impossible. A European final to a wonderful Israeli season.
PLACE TEAM G W T L Goals GD Points
1 Maccabee Tel-Aviv 30 19 6 5 59-27 +32 63 EC1
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2 Maccabee Haifa 30 17 7 6 68-34 +34 58 EC2
3 Hapoel Beer-Sheva 30 14 8 8 54-39 +15 50 EC3
3 Hapoel Tel-Aviv 30 10 15 5 40-32 + 8 45 EC3
5 Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa 30 12 8 10 42-36* + 6 44
6 Beitar Jerusalem 30 12 8 10 42-36* + 6 44
7 Hapoel Tsafririm Holon 30 13 5 12 56-56 0 44
8 Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa 30 7 14 9 40-41 - 1 35
9 Hapoel Rishon le-Zion 30 7 13 10 39-44 - 5 34
10 Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv 30 8 10 12 43-49 - 6 34
11 Beitar Tel-Aviv 30 10 4 16 43-60 -17 34
12 Hapoel Beit-Shean 30 8 10 12 30-50 -20 34
13 Hapoel Haifa 30 8 9 13 45-51 - 6 33
14 Maccabee Herzliya 30 8 9 13 30-49 -19 33
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15 Maccabee Ironi Ashdod 30 7 11 12 42-52 -10 32
16 Maccabee Netanya 30 7 9 14 33-50 -17 30
* - Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa finished ahead of Beitar Jerusalem because of the
positive balance between the two: 1:0 to Petakh-Tikwa at home, 0:0 away
in Jerusalem.
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Haim Revivo (Maccabee Haifa) 17
Amir Turgeman (Maccabee Ironi Ashdod) 17
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Sergei Gerasimets (Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv) 13
Moshe Eisenberg (Beitar Tel-Aviv) 13
Shai Holtzman (Hapoel Tsafririm Holon) 13
(1 in Maccabee Haifa)
Avi Nimni (Maccabee Tel-Aviv) 12
Nir Sevilla (Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv) 12
Offer Shitrit (Maccabee Haifa) 12
Claudio Kahimi (Hapoel Beit-Shean) 12
Ronen Schweig (Beitar Tel-Aviv) 12
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