52 goals in 16 games (including the two own goals), 7 penalties shot and 5 scored, and 2 red cards - this was the harvest of the first Cup round of this year worth mentioning. And, unlike the last year, this time no surprises at all were registered. 15 teams of the National League joined Hapoel Ashkelon, the Country League leader, in the 1/8 finals; the latter was the only team from the lower Leagues that reached such a stage, devastating Hapoel Rishon le-Zion, but this could hardly be considered as a surprise. There were no scoreless games, and just Hapoel Tsafririm Holon needed an extra-time in order to finally defeat a stubborn rival, Maccabee Acco, away. A huge surprise in a "political game" between Maccabee from the Jewish settlement Maale-Adumim in Judea and Hapoel Taibe from an Arab town inside Israel was destroyed 20 minutes from time.

Beitar Jerusalem had a gap of two Leagues in its favor, playing against Hapoel Yehud away, but was unexpectedly dull. However, even in the dull day it was far better than its rival, creating tens of opportunities but seeing Shimon Israel, our "Keeper Of The Round", in his very best. Israel was everywhere, denying ball after ball, but still conceded a couple of goals from Eli Ohana; what would Beitar do without him? And so, Beitar expectedly passed a low barrier, but should vastly improve before the next round.

Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa and Hapoel Beer-Sheva had also the easy tasks, and Beer-Sheva indeed made it easy for itself, scoring away the three unanswered goals through Giovanni Rosso, Shai Holtzman and Sharon Avitan. However, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa saw itself in a certain trouble, after the penalty of Moti Kakun and the goal of Yaniv Offri were answered by Oren Mukharer's reducer. Offri's goal, scored later on, was disallowed because of an offside, and Nazareth was pressing the runners-up, but those had a veteran Beni Kozoshvili who improved the back line and helped to preserve the score.

The harder task was this of Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa, playing at home against Maccabee Netanya, the Country League runners-up. The game was pretty equal, and Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa seemed to have no recipe against Netanya's defence. However, it has Offer Shitrit who does the job every time it's needed, exactly as Eli Ohana does in Beitar Jerusalem. Ami Rosenberg, a young substitute keeper of Netanya, made an only mistake in his otherwise wonderful game, and this enabled Shitrit to score a winner, 24 minutes before the final whistle.

Another team to have a savior in an attacking line is, no doubt, Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv. Alon Mizrahi scored two goals, one from the penalty kick, and made a goal pass to Avi Tikwa; even so, the game was not easy at all. After Mizrahi had opened the score, Offer Elkobi equalized in the last seconds of the 1st half from a penalty spot, a bad decision of the referee Barik Tahsin. As if he wanted to compensate the hosts, Tahsin created another penalty completely out of the blue, and it was scored by Mizrahi. Oren Dayan scored another reducer after the goal of Tikwa we have mentioned before, but it wasn't enough for Maccabee Kiryat-Gat. The Oranges of Bnei-Yehuda advanced.

Two goals were also conceded by the Double holder, Maccabee Tel-Aviv, but it could've been more if not for a good performance of Alexander Uvarov, our "Man Of The Game". Early in the game, Uvarov parried greatly the dangerous shots of Israel Maya (12) and Emil Weleb (20), before Nir Klinger opened the score for the hosts. Immediately after the break, Avi Nimni enlarged the advantage of the favourites. From that moment on, Tel-Aviv and Bat-Yam exchanged goals twice - the great shot of the debutant Arik Hengeli was answered by an own goal of Yaacov Hillel, and a magnificent far-ranger of Noam Shoram was answered with a no less great shot of Yossi Gordana. 4:2 for the defending Cup holders, who go on defending it.

The only National teams to devastate their opponents completely, except Hapoel Beer-Sheva, were Maccabee Haifa and ... Hapoel Beit-Shean; both scored 5 goals into their opponents' nets. Hapoel Kiryat-Shmona managed to reduce the score against Haifa in Kiryat-Eliezer, but then Amir Turgeman organized 3 goals for Haifa in the dying moments of the game, 5:1. And Beit-Shean was much-much better than their opponents from Nes-Tsiona, scoring two real quick goals through Sergen Culakovic and Meir Melika. Just after the break, it was Shimon Danan to devastate the guests completely with his effort. Later on, those were Shimon Danan again and Golan Deri to sign up the final score. Probably, a sign of the better second round awaiting for the troubled hosts in the National League.

Hapoel Haifa played an extremely bad game against Maccabee Yaffa away, but the hosts were even worse and lost to the winner of Hisham Zoabi. And there was another away victory of 1:0 for the National League team, but what a drama! Nissim Avitan scored after 33 minutes of play for Hapoel Tel-Aviv, but Maccabee Ironi Ashdod was attacking time after time, helped by the red card shown to Alon Hazan, Hapoel Tel-Aviv's best player, for saying "You are a dog!" to the referee. A minute from the final whistle, Ashdod's efforts were rewarded with a penalty kick; Marian Cleptano asked Naor Galili to let him shoot, and somehow managed to miss the frame. This was the last game of Moshe Sinai as Hapoel Tel-Aviv's manager, and he finished it with a victory and bringing his (now former) team to the next Cup round.

Hapoel Jerusalem managed to defeat Hapoel Hod-ha'Sharon, a Cinderella from League D, without any difficulty. The 1st half was nearly scoreless, and the keeper of Hapoel Jerusalem Jaroslav Baku had even to be substituted, saving a sure goal and being injuired during this moment. However, Michel Dayan scored before the break from the penalty spot, and immediately after the break, Yair Asayag doubled the score. The last goal was of Assaf Tubi, 12 minutes before the final whistle.

A huge surprise was destroyed in Jerusalem, where Maccabee Maale-Adumim from the League E seemed to hold Hapoel Taibe from the National League to the nil draw. Maale-Adumim was even better, and when Taibe was attacking, it found the magnificent Beni Gamlieli in the hosts' net. However, 20 minutes from time, Gamlieli could do nothing against the wonderful volley shot of Valeriy Kurlianchuk, and here Maale-Adumim was broken. An own goal of Menashe Ben-Or and a penalty kick scored by Bajiat Uda, finished the story.

Another huge surprise has nearly happened in Acco, where Shai Harel gave the hosts an advantage over Hapoel Tsafririm Holon. The surprise seemed to be just perfect - the penalty of Holon, shot by Victor Moroz after 77 minutes of play, was denied superbly by Amir Guz (and do you remember all the penalties that this keeper saved the last year in the Cup, playing for Maccabee Shaarayim?). But still, Moroz managed to equalize later on, and in the extra-time, Holon was better standing on the field. The winning goals came from its two youngsters, David Kabeda and Oren Nissim.

Two goals of Nir Reichman brought a victory to Hapoel Kefar-Saba away over Beitar Tel-Aviv, while the latter equalized temporarily from the goal of Carlos Pero. And Maccabee Herzliya, forgetting its League troubles, defeated Bnei-Sakhnin from the League C, 2:0; the goals were scored by the wonderful Ilan Bakhar and by Oleg Naduda.

Last but not the least, Hapoel Ashkelon became the only team from the League B to advance, devastating Hapoel Rishon le-Zion at home, 3:1. After just 2 minutes of play, Sagi Eini, our "Player Of The Week", opened the score. Moshe Sebeg indeed managed to equalize, before Eini scored his 2nd goal. After the break, Rishon tried to do something, but was extremely weak, and therefore, Ashkelon managed to score a wonderful goal on the other side - 7 consecutive passes of the Country League leaders were finished with a great shot of Eran Prizant, after a no less great pass of Gocha Tkebuchava.

The 1/8 finals will be held at March 29 and at April 8.

*****************************************************************************
 In brackets you can see the League of the team and its current place there.
*****************************************************************************


Hapoel Yehud (C-South,5) - BEITAR JERUSALEM (A,1)  0:2 (0:1).
--------------------------------------------------------------
Hosts:    -.
Guests:   Eli Ohana (12, 64).
THE BEST: Shimon Israel, keeper, Hapoel Yehud.


HAPOEL PETAKH-TIKWA (A,2) - Hapoel Nazareth-Illit (C-North,2)  2:1 (2:0).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hosts:    Moti Kakun (24 pen), Yaniv Offri (38).
Guests:   Oren Mukharer (60).
THE BEST: Beni Kozoshvili, defender, Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa.


Ironi Ramat-Ha'Sharon (C-South,2) - HAPOEL BEER-SHEVA (A,3)  0:3 (0:2).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hosts:    -.
Guests:   Giovanni Rosso (16), Shai Holtzman (45), Sharon Avitan (88).
THE BEST: Alon Riff, midfielder, Hapoel Beer-Sheva.


MACCABEE PETAKH-TIKWA (A,4) - Maccabee Netanya (B,2)  1:0 (0:0).
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Hosts:    Offer Shitrit (66).
Guests:   -.
THE BEST: Idan Tal, midfielder, Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa.


MACCABEE TEL-AVIV (A,5) - Hapoel Bat-Yam (B,5)  4:2 (1:0).
-----------------------------------------------------------
Hosts:    Nir Klinger (30), Avi Nimni (46), Arik Hengeli (50),
          Noam Shoham (84).
Guests:   OG (Yaacov Hillel, 56), Yossi Gordana (86).
THE BEST: Alexander Uvarov, keeper, Maccabee Tel-Aviv.


BNEI-YEHUDA TEL-AVIV (A,6) - Maccabee Kiryat-Gat (B,7)  3:2 (1:1).
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Hosts:    Alon Mizrahi (13, 53 pen), Avi Tikwa (70).
Guests:   Offer Elkobi (45 pen), Oren Dayan (72).
THE BEST: Alon Mizrahi, forward, Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv.


Maccabee Yaffa (B,12) - HAPOEL HAIFA (A,7)  0:1 (0:0).
-------------------------------------------------------
Hosts:    -.
Guests:   Hisham Zoabi (70).
THE BEST: Alon Halfon, defender, Hapoel Haifa.


MACCABEE HAIFA (A,8) - Hapoel Kiryat-Shmona (B,15)  5:1 (2:0).
---------------------------------------------------------------
Hosts:    Sergei Belianchuk (20), Avishai Zhano (24), Reuven Attar (87),
          Moshe Glam (89), Amir Turgeman (90).
Guests:   Micha Avigezer (72).
THE BEST: Sergei Belianchuk, defender, Maccabee Haifa.


Beitar Tel-Aviv (B,13) - HAPOEL KEFAR-SABA (A,9)  1:2 (0:1).
-------------------------------------------------------------
Hosts:    Carlos Pero (49).
Guests:   Nir Reichman (21, 76).
THE BEST: Nir Reichman, forward, Hapoel Kefar-Saba.


HAPOEL JERUSALEM (A,10) - Hapoel Hod-Ha'Sharon (D,10)  3:0 (1:0).
------------------------------------------------------------------
Hosts:    Michel Dayan (44 pen), Yair Asayag (46), Assaf Tubi (78).
Guests:   -.
THE BEST: Michel Dayan, midfielder, Hapoel Jerusalem.


Maccabee Acco (B,11) - HAPOEL TSAFRIRIM HOLON (A,11)  1:3 AET (1:0, 1:1, 1:2).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hosts:    Shai Harel (43).
Guests:   Victor Moroz (84), David Kabeda (98), Oren Nissim (114).
THE BEST: Victor Moroz, midfielder, Hapoel Tsafririm Holon.
On the 77th minute Victor Moroz (Hapoel Tsafririm Holon) missed a penalty
kick - Amir Guz saved.


HAPOEL ASHKELON (B,1) - Hapoel Rishon le-Zion (A,12)  3:1 (2:1).
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Hosts:    Sagi Eini (2, 25), Eran Prizant (73).
Guests:   Moshe Sebeg (18).
RED:      Ivica Anatolic, midfielder, Hapoel Rishon le-Zion, 70.
THE BEST: Sagi Eini, midfielder, Hapoel Ashkelon.


Maccabee Ironi Ashdod (B,4) - HAPOEL TEL-AVIV (A,13)  0:1 (0:0).
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Hosts:    -.
Guests:   Nissim Avitan (33).
RED:      Alon Hazan, midfielder, Hapoel Tel-Aviv, 60.
THE BEST: Eyal Ben-Ami, defender, Hapoel Tel-Aviv.
On the 89th minute Marian Cleptano (Maccabee Ironi Ashdod) missed a penalty
kick - the ball missed the frame.


MACCABEE HERZLIYA (A,14) - Bnei-Sakhnin (C-North,1)  2:0 (1:0).
----------------------------------------------------------------
Hosts:    Ilan Bakhar (17), Oleg Naduda (68).
Guests:   -.
THE BEST: Ilan Bakhar, defender, Maccabee Herzliya.


HAPOEL BEIT-SHEAN (A,15) - Nes-Tsiona (B, 10)  5:0 (2:0).
----------------------------------------------------------
Hosts:    Sergen Culakovic (1), Meir Melika (7), Shimon Danan (46, 79),
          Golan Deri (81).
Guests:   -.
THE BEST: Shimon Danan, midfielder, Hapoel Beit-Shean.


Maccabee Maale-Adumim (E,1) - HAPOEL TAIBE (A,16)  0:3 (0:0).
--------------------------------------------------------------
Hosts:    -.
Guests:   Valeriy Kurlianchuk (70), OG (Menashe Ben-Or, 75),
          Bajiat Uda (83 pen).
THE BEST: Shadi Abu-Dib, midfielder, Hapoel Taibe.





                         THE 11 OF THE ROUND
                         -------------------
                           Shimon  Israel
                           (Hapoel Yehud)

    Ilan Bakhar    Sergei Belianchuk    Beni Kozoshvili    Alexander Taikov
(Maccabee Herzliya) (Maccabee Haifa) (Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa) (Hapoel Ashkelon)

    Boaz Meir        Shimon Danan         Sagi Eini       Boris Matveyev
(Hapoel Ashkelon) (Hapoel Beit-Shean) (Hapoel Ashkelon) (Hapoel Beit-Shean)

                     Alon Mizrahi          Nir Reichman
                (Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv)  (Hapoel Kefar-Saba)


3: Hapoel Ashkelon      (League B)
2: Hapoel Beit-Shean    (League A)
1: Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa  (League A)
1: Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv (League A)
1: Maccabee Haifa       (League A)
1: Hapoel Kefar-Saba    (League A)
1: Maccabee Herzliya    (League A)
1: Hapoel Yehud         (League C-South)


THE BEST OF THE ROUND:  Sagi Eini, midfielder, Hapoel Ashkelon.


THE BEST CUP SCORERS:
        Sagi Eini (Hapoel Ashkelon)             2     2
        Eli Ohana (Beitar Jerusalem)            2     2
        Shimon Danan (Hapoel Beit-Shean)        2     2
        Nir Reichman (Hapoel Kefar-Saba)        2     2
        Alon Mizrahi (Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv)     2(1)  2(1)


PASSING INTO THE NEXT ROUND:
        Beitar Jerusalem        (A,  1) *
        Hapoel Petakh-Tikwa     (A,  2)
        Hapoel Beer-Sheva       (A,  3)
        Maccabee Petakh-Tikwa   (A,  4) *
        Maccabee Tel-Aviv       (A,  5) *
        Bnei-Yehuda Tel-Aviv    (A,  6) *
        Hapoel Haifa            (A,  7) *
        Maccabee Haifa          (A,  8) *
        Hapoel Kefar-Saba       (A,  9)
        Hapoel Jerusalem        (A, 10)
        Hapoel Tsafririm Holon  (A, 11)
        Hapoel Tel-Aviv         (A, 13)
        Maccabee Herzliya       (A, 14) *
        Hapoel Beit-Shean       (A, 15) *
        Hapoel Taibe            (A, 16)
        Hapoel Ashkelon         (B,  1)

* - the teams that had also participated in the 1/8 finals a year ago.

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