‘15 ⚽️ 1-0 Vlad Kart goal, Roey Sartov assist
‘67 ⚽️ 2-0 Vlad Kart goal
‘75 ⚽️ 2-1 Elitzur Yafo goal
‘87 ⚽️ 3-1 Roey Sartov goal, Gabo Terkieltaub assist
Top row (from left to right): Sam Sank, Sebastian Israel, Renan Prais, Isaac Kahtan, Daniel Herszenhaut, Ron Sharifi, Dandy Okougo, Leo Gewertz and Asher Goldberg.
Bottom row (from left to right): Gabo Terkieltaub, Vlad Kart, Roey Sartov, Fernando Zatz , Allan Camarov, Evgeny Kart and Gaston Fratesi.
In the second game of the lower playoff, we faced off against Elitzur Yafo who had finished just above us in 4th place in the regular Liga Gimmel season table.
In the pouring rain, it was difficult to get too much good football going but we were certainly the more dominant team throughout the game. Our first real chance came on a swift counter as Ron Sharifi sent Evgeny Kart through on the right-wing and the Russian's cheeky lob hit the bar.
Shortly after we would make the breakthrough, Roey Sartov evaded a couple of defenders on the edge of the Elitzur box and then lofted a beautiful cross into the area where Vlad Kart was on hand to head into the bottom corner.
Leo Gewertz barely had a save to make all day long and was mainly a spectator in the first 45 minutes, but we were unable to add to the lead and went into the break 1-0 up.
In the second half, we continued to push for a second goal and Evgeny's pressure in the final third led to a poor pass from the Elitzur centre-back, giving Vlad a one-on-one chance to which he promptly scored. It was the striker's 11th goal of the season and he remains our top scorer this year.
The second goal should have put the game to bed but Elitzur were insistent on making the game an exciting affair to the end and they halved the deficit when a deep free kick was bundled in with 15 minutes to go.
Suddenly, Elitzur sensed the chance of taking something from the game and Head Coach Sebastian Israel altered his tactics and substitutions as the game reached its climax.
One of those substitutions, Gabriel Terkieltaub proved valuable as his pass to Roey Sartov made the difference and the midfielder grabbed his first goal of the season to seal the victory in the closing minutes.
We remain top of the lower playoff table, two points ahead of Otzma Holon, as we take a week break from the schedule.
