Photo of the photo at the top of the article: Hadar Van Kula – Handball Association
The second round of the home stage of the Premier League in handball was held today (Friday) with five games. In the spotlight: The leader AS Ramat Hasharon achieved 29:30 on the second in the table Hapoel Ashdod, remained the undefeated unit and opened a gap of three points at the top. The meeting between MK Holon and Hapoel Rishon Lezion provided a great drama and ended in a 28:28 tie, the champion Maccabi Rishon LeZion made a comeback in Kiryat Motzkin, and came back with a 27:32 victory that establishes it in third place.
AS Ramat Hasharon – Hapoel Ashdod 29:30
Ramat Hasharon started well and gained a 0: 3 advantage. Ashdod did not break, came back and even led 5: 6, but the continuation was of Assaf Levy’s trainees. They led with an advantage that reached a peak in the final minutes – with 24:29. Ashdod actually only narrowed the gap. Ramat Hasharon, as mentioned, achieves a second victory over Ashdod this season (after the away victory 22:31 in the first round). In the first half Itai Suissa from Ashdod received a direct red card. When Ivan Mosic and Daniel Sarfati scored 4 each. Tomislav Stojkovic, the mythological ex of Ashdod, provided 11 stops (out of 34), and Lior Kaplan finished with one stop. In Ashdod – Risto Vujicic was the leading scorer with 7 goals. , Lou Exbrod added 5, Yossi Bitterman and Stefan Ilyich with 4 each.
MK Holon – Hapoel Rishon LeZion 28:28
Deja Vu for the previous meeting between them that ended at 29:29 in the first round: after a good game opener by Holon, and a great return by Hapoel Rishon LeZion (scoring the first goal only after 6:38 minutes – and later went up to 9:11 In the 20th minute) – the final of the first half belonged to Holon and Or Levy (6 goals in the first 30 minutes) – who also signed with a local advantage at the break. On the other hand, Nadav Cohen held the Reds almost alone offensively with 8 goals in the first half.
In the second half, the first goal was scored only 5 minutes later – when Rif Cohen raised Holon to 13:15. It also took Hapoel 6:35 in the second half (Zivan Pasic scored) to score the first goal. The sequel has already flowed – Sean Sells shrank to 16:15 and also equaled to 19:19 (41 ‘). Tal Peled’s stops allowed Celas and Hapoel to make a comeback – 20:19. Peled also added an assist to Nadav Cohen, who in his 11th goal set a 21:19 mark. A pair of goals by Lidor Peso and Aviran Yosef equalized 23:23 (48 ‘). Erel Zeitler and Oz Hammi raised Hapoel to 23:25. Rif Cohen with a pair of goals (and 6 in total) equalized to 25:25. Oz Hammami and Diane Pralitza set 26:26. Celes returned the advantage to Hapoel and Yuval Guerra increased to 28:26 (54 ‘).
Barzad Demirovich reached his 15th stop, but then Peso shrank to the goal, a minute and a half to go when Shai Natan was also sent off for two minutes. After Hapoel’s attack that got stuck and was interrupted by a passive whistle, Peso also set up a dramatic equalizer – 28:28 – 17 seconds to go. Hammi’s attempt to score was unsuccessful, and Nadav Cohen’s last shot did not end in a victory goal. Status quo in fourth place in the table with 17 points for Holon and Hapoel Rishon Lezion. Conquered for Holon – Or Levy 8, Lidor Peso 7, Rif Cohen 6, Aviran Yosef 4, Pralitza 2 and Patrick Ubina 1. Goalkeeping stops: Oron Bargil 5 of 27 (19 Or Canaani 0 from 6. To Hapoel: Nadav Cohen 11 (from 12 – including 4 from 4 from 7 meters), Sean Celes 6, Zeitler 5, Hammami 4, Guerra and Pasich 1 each. Goalkeeping stops: Demirovich 17 out of 39 (44%) and Tal Peled 4 out of 10 (40%).
Maccabi Kiryat Motzkin – Maccabi Rishon LeZion 32:27
As in the previous round in Ramat Hasharon, Kiryat Motzkin provided a serious fight, but the depth and experience prevailed. Many scored for Motzkin: Philip Laubetz 7 goals, Nemanja Skorovich 6, Yiftach Dahan and Barak Amar 5 each. Itch with 4 each. Niv Fishlovitz provided 11 stops at 38 percent.
MK Beer Sheva – Hapoel Hevel Eilot 26:22
The hopes of the hostess from the Negev capital to reopen the struggle for survival – were disappointed. BS is immersed in last place with two points and seems closer than ever to a national drop, while Shailot raised its balance to 8 points, and also opened a gap of two points from Dimona in 11th place and below the red line. The meeting itself was very egalitarian until the 45th minute (19:19) – where Eilot opened a four-goal advantage – and showed that she recovered quite well from the nation’s blow to Corona that befell her last week. Niv Hayat, Gal Kedem and Gal Caspi added 3 each and Yair Testa Sha’ar. Goran Rakovic excelled at the Eilot Gate with 15 stops.
Maccabi Dimona – Hapoel Kiryat Ono 27:26
Quite similar to the previous meeting between them, in which Kiryat Ono won in Dimona 21:20, this game also ended on the edge of a goal – precisely after Dimona led at the break of the half and during the second half with a three-goal advantage. Kiryat Ono knew how to come back, Noam Katz gave 25:26, Doral Ben Saadon temporarily equalized, but Ofir Simon scored the winning goal in the closing seconds. Dimona as mentioned gets tangled up, Ono with two significant points in the battle for a place in the top playoff. Nevo Medina was excellent in Ono with 8 goals, Simon added 6, and the prominent scorers also included Tariq Ksumovich and Stefan Chiric with 3 each. In the ranks of Dimona, Doral Ben Saadon led with 7 conquests (5 penalties), Roy Solomon with 6 Gates and Yotam Tal with 5.
The third round of the houses stage will take place on Monday – in the upper house: Ashdod will host Kiryat Motzkin (19:00). Hapoel Rishon LeZion Ramat Hasharon (19:30) and Maccabi Rishon LeZion Holon (19:30). In the lower house: Hevel Eilot will host Dimona (19:00) for a key game in the struggle for survival. Kiryat Ono and Herzliya will meet (20:30) in a key battle for the fight to reach the playoffs. The game between Ness Ziona and Beer Sheva was postponed due to verification (previous games that were postponed – between Hapoel and Maccabi Rishon LeZion, between Hevel Eilot and Kiryat Ono and between Herzliya and Ness Ziona will be held on 14/2).