'86 ❌ Naveh Golan penalty saved by Leo Gewertz
‘89 ⚽️ 0-1 Naveh Golan goal
‘93 ⚽️ 1-1 Evgeny Kart goal
Top row (from left to right): Dandy Okougo, Ron Sharifi, Isaac Kahtan, Ariel Peretz, Gaston Hilman, Mati Yelen, Daniel Herszenhaut, Leo Gewertz and Tom Printac.
Bottom row (from left to right): Guile Meyer, Josh Fischbach, Fernando Zatz, Mono Bechini, Sam Sank, Evgeny Kart, Roey Sartov and Azanao Aristo.
Last Friday's matchup with long-standing local rivals Hapoel Naveh Golan could not have been any more significant, with our Liga Gimmel opponents just three points ahead of us in the table prior to the game.
We knew that a defeat would effectively end our chances of finishing in the top 3 and qualifying for the play-offs, with only three games to go after the clash with Naveh Golan.
David Pernitchi continued to use a back 5 to solidify the defence, handing a first-team debut to Inter Blue star Mati Yelen. The formation did the trick with Naveh Golan being limited to a single chance in the first half, which Mati himself heroically blocked by throwing himself in front of the ball.
We were arguably the better team for the majority of the game, dominating possession for the first 70 minutes as the rain poured down in Jaffa. Yet, Naveh Golan piled on the pressure as the game reached its climax.
All the action came in the final 10 minutes of the game. First, Naveh Golan were awarded a penalty in the dying minutes of the 90 after Gaston Hilman pulled down their winger.
Brazilian keeper Leo Gewertz saved the resulting spot-kick to keep the goalline scoreless but he was beaten just minutes later as Naveh Golan celebrated what they thought was the crucial winning goal.
Yet, not to be beaten, we scored a dramatic equalizer with virtually the last kick of the game as Evgeny Kart capitalised on a free kick launched into the box, chipping the keeper and sparking wild celebrations from the Inter bench.
Next week, we face off against the league leaders at home in another massive game.