SPORTS DIRECT OLIM LEAGUE
INTER 1 RA'ANANA 2

A superb second-half comeback saw Rannana claim a vital three points in a tough encounter against Inter.

A rain soaked pitch in Jaffa saw an exhilirating between top of the league Ra'anana and title hopefuls Inter.
Inter settled first and playing some excellent football.

Ra'anana, still reeling from throwing away three goals against Mod'iiin last week, were left wondering how they didn't capitalise on the first chance of the game. The ball fell to Zeev Landsman, who having beaten his man, hit a ferocious volley from a tight angle towards the top corner only to see it brilliantly saved by the inter keeper Sam Friedman who was in fine form all evening.

It came, though, as no surprise when on the 15-minute mark inter took the lead, good possession play had put Ra'anana under pressure and the resulting corner was converted, with Sam Sank having the easy task of nodding in from a couple of yards out.

Ra'annana almost replied immediately when Haim Elimelech had the ball in the net, but the referee ruled it out for offside.

The remainder of the half followed a similar pattern with inter dominating, but failing to create clear-cut chances.

With co-managers Avi Wiesenberg, Guv Lebens and Moshe Freedman looking increasingly frustrated on the sidelines, things had to change in the second half for Ra'anana. They came out with more focus and determination having been told in no uncertain terms that the performance in the first half was not good enough and despite being without goal machine and league top-scorer Aviad Ben Meir, they should have been doing better.

The tide began to change and a couple of chances followed but it was not until the 65-minute mark that the game was turned on its head. First, a corner broke to Tito Telias who unleashed an unstoppable shot past the keeper to level the scores. Only a minute later Raanana were ahead. An outstanding team move saw Ronen Goldsmith released down the left who got in behind the defence. He laid it back to Hananni Corney who nipped in in front of the defender to dispatch the ball into the net.

To their credit, Inter kept pushing until the end, playing attractive football without panicking. The best of the chances was from a free-kick just outside the area however the ball was blasted over.

Ra'anana almost extended their lead in the final 10 minutes when a counter-attack brought a smart stop from the keeper who parried the ball back to the attacker who then took it round him and appeared to be brought down for a clear penalty, only for the referee to wave play on.

At the final whistle Raanana were delighted to come away with the win to keep their title assault on track while Inter fans felt they had done enough to earn a point.

Ra'anana manager Natan Wiesenberg commented: "As they say, it's a game of two halves - Inter were a credit to the league tonight and we are thrilled to walk away with the points.

"We know every game is a battle and everyone is gunning for us. We were without our two regular strikers so we're even more pleased that we managed to turn this game around. It shows the determination in the team and the quality of the squad.

"We have a real belief this year and it has been severely tested over the last two games, but we are delighted to still be maintaining our unbeaten run and will take each game is at comes."