3’ ⚽️ 1-0, Evyatar Erez goal, Roey Sartov assist
65’ ⚽️ 1-1, Naveh Golan goal
70’ ⚽️ 2-1, Azanao Aristo goal, Andre Walker assist
79' 🔴 Red card Faris Abdulrasul
79' 🔴 Red card Naveh Golan
80’ ⚽️ 2-2, Naveh Golan goal
Top row (from left to right): Davndy Okougo, Azanao Aristo, Faris Abdulrasul, Yuval Levi, Vlad Kart, Daniel Cabral, Andre Walker, Leo Gewertz, Ron Sharifi, Gabo Terkieltaub and David Martane.
Bottom row (from left to right): Ariel Peretz, Nico Perge, Roey Sartov, Sam Sank, Nadav Izmirli, Evyatar Erez, Erez Mateni and Ricky Horvath.
After last weekend's defeat to Shikma Hen effectively ended our promotion hopes, there was mainly pride at stake in Monday's game against local rivals Naveh Golan, as well as a chance at revenge after they had beaten us 2-1 with just 9 men earlier in the season.
Head Coach David Martane had only 14 players at his disposal for the midweek game, but a strong starting XI was still available as the teams kicked off in the heat.
Things could not have gotten off to a better start as we totally dominated the proceedings from the get-go and Evyatar Erez calmly finished off what was one of a number of chances in the first few minutes.
Yet, we could not double our lead before the half time break, despite many opportunities and David was rightly concerned as the referee blew time after 45 minutes played.
Naveh Golan, as they always do, dragged our side into more of a street fight than a football game, doing everything they can, whether legal or not, to turn the game in their favour.
A mistake at the back just after the hour mark saw our unworthy opponents level the scores, but we were soon ahead again as Azanao Aristo put away a shot in the box after substitute Andre Walker had found him free.
At this point, Naveh Golan really went all out to rustle our feathers and a brawl broke out, which led to a player from each team getting sent off. As fate would have it, our rivals scored a late equaliser in what seemed an inevitability considering the amount of clear-cut chances we missed.
A performance to forget but it was the attitude and behaviour of our side today (no doubt prompted by the shameful Naveh Golan instigation) that was truly a misrepresentation of our football club.
Friday marks the final game of the season, where a win away to Elitzur Yehud will clinch the 3rd spot in the table.