The group stage in the Winner Handball League opens today (Friday) with two games in the upper house, and two in the lower house. In the spotlight: The leader Hapoel Rasheltz got off to a great start and recorded its 11th win of the season, this time over Holon. In the lower house, Nes Ziona (11 points) and Maccabi Kiryat Motzkin (9 points), who were in 8-7 places, won, and by the same margin of 3 goals, and took a significant step towards securing the place that leads to the playoffs.
Hapoel Rashalz – MK Holon 30:37
The meeting between the leader and Holon, which is showing a good season, was of course against the background of the transfer of Lidor Pesso from midfielder of the Israeli national team from Holon to the Reds on the eve of the game (Pesso is mainly a partner in defense and contributed an assist today). The history of recent meetings provided us with close results, of games that were decided by a goal, those that ended in a tie, and one fact – Holon likes to perform in the hall in Nachalat Yehuda.
Holon started the game at a high pace, with Roy Solomon and Patrick Obina being dominant in the offensive part. On the other hand, Hapoel struggled defensively with the disadvantage of the injured Lior Gorman. In the second half, after falling behind, Holon equalized, but that’s also where Hapoel’s escape began. Oleg Estershepkin with a pair of goals and later Itai Sorkis brought it up to 24:28, when Holon goalkeeper Ziv Kedan received a direct red card dismissal and immediately after that also the blue card. Nemania Pribak made it 27:33, seven minutes to the end, on the way to victory.
Maccabi Rashlac – Bnei Herzliya 32:32
As mentioned, Maccabi Rashel easily won its first two meetings of the season against Herzliya, in the league and in the cup, but today at the opening of the upper house games – the story looks different. The Yellows did lead in the opening, but Herzliya made a turnaround and went into the break with a plus two goals. The rest of the game also included upheavals And went close to the end.
Herzliya went up 30:31 from a goal by the ex-yellows Niv Zoraf. Yermi Sidi equalized for Maccabi Rashel 57 seconds to the end and then a ball loss by Nemanja Gojkovic and a steal by Gafar Hadzimirovic allowed Bosnia to go out and score 31:32 in favor of Maccabi Rashel, twenty seconds to the end. Sean Sells responded quickly with an equalizing goal 12 seconds to the end – a dramatic 32:32.
A. K. Nes Ziona – Hapoel Ramat Gan 29:32
Nes Ziona is taking a significant step towards the playoffs, after the series of changes it had to make. Hapoel Ramat Gan, on the other hand, believes despite today’s loss that nothing is closed in the fight against relegation, and added Croatian pivot Marko Padic who made a good debut. Ramat Gan started better today and led until the middle of the first half.
Nes Ziona equalized, made a change and took the lead of plus 3 goals. In the second half, she increased the advantage to 20:25. Ramat Gan did not give up, and despite the loss, it is definitely sending the message that it will fight for staying until the end. The good, or the bitter.
Maccabi Kiryat Motzkin – Hapoel Hevel Eilot 36:39
Motzkin is also facing the playoffs – in a game in which she dominated today from the start and moved throughout most of it with an advantage of 5-6 goal difference. Philip Laubats ended the first half with a 14:18 advantage. In the last minutes, Eilot lost from its lag and Yair Testa, who joined the team straight from training, sealed the match in Motzkin.
The women’s derby: Hapoel Rashalz beat Maccabi Rashalz
The leader of the Athena League table, Hapoel Rashlat continued the winning streak since the beginning of the season after a 25:27 victory over the champion Maccabi Rashlat. The opening was for Hapoel, Maccabi made a turnaround in the second half, but the final was for the Reds, who were led by Shir and Kert with 12 goals , Diana Cheroyakova added 5.
