Olim League review week eleven

The latest round of Olim League action included a five-star performance from Jerusalem and Modiin scoring seven…

Jaffa 2 Modiin 1
Even with a man of the match performance from their goalkeeper, Iliyah Kovalov, Modi’in went down to a surging Jaffa FC 2-1. Jaffa dominated the first half, but were left frustrated by an in-form Kovalov. The Modi’in goalkeeper singlehandedly kept his team in the game, making an amazing seven saves. However, in the dying moments of the first half, a well worked Jaffa move found the returning Stephen Caffrey free in the box, and the Irish midfielder made no mistake with his finish.

With the beginning of the second half, Modi’in asserted their strength in the middle of the pitch and began to dominate possession. With momentum on their side, Modi’in found most of their scoring opportunities through long-range shots from Omri Encauou. In the 73rd minute, Modi’in’s Itai Saidoff made the most of a mistake by Jaffa’s Benji Gilbert, sprinting from the half-way line before finishing expertly past Gilad Becker. With both teams looking for the winner, it was Jaffa that got the late goal. A clever through ball by Alberto Elias in the 88th minute caused confusion in the Modi’in box between Kovalov and Ilan Shmueli and left Sam Silverberg with a simple tap in to get the three points for Jaffa.

Real Jerusalem 5 Aviv City 1
Real Jerusalem came into the game one point ahead of Aviv City. A win was essential to both teams, so Real knew that they had to control the midfield. Aviv City failed to get into the game and Real striker Menny Duek took full advantage scoring two goals in the first half. Defensive pairing Amos Rachmani and Sanchez were both on top form for Real and kept their team out of danger.

Aviv City were given a lifeline in the second half when a defensive error allowed their forward Suma to beat goalkeeper Fran Salgado making the score 2-1. But it was all in vein as Real scored a further three goals with Yam, Amos and Mordechai adding their names to the score sheet. The game ended at 5-1 in an evening that Aviv will want to quickly forget.

Elsewhere Raanana and England played out a goalless draw 0-0 and Ashdod held pace setters Bambi to a draw in a thrilling 3-3 game.

TEAM-OF-THE-WEEK:

GOALKEEPER:
Daniel Bergman (Raanana)

DEFENDERS:
Omer Peleg (Eng)
Sam Sank (Eng)
Tomer Amos (Real)
Clifford Corney (Raanana)

MIDFIELDERS:
Stephen Caffrey (Jaffa)
Ido Sacagiu (Bambi)
Gal Kopilevitch (Bambi)
Meni Duwek (Real)

ATTACKERS:
Sam Silverberg (Jaffa)
Shlomi Touboul (Ashdod)

MANAGER-OF-THE-WEEK:
Fran Salgado (Real)