SPORTS DIRECT OLIM LEAGUE
RAINBOW 1 RAANANA 7

Raanana continued their strong start to the season with a deserved win over bottom-of-the-table Rainbow.

However, the final score doesn’t reflect what was a very tight first half, where Rainbow actually took the lead.

In a fairly even first 20 minutes, there were chances at both ends, the best of which saw Rainbow break through the Raanana defence only to be denied by some excellent goalkeeping from Daniel Bergman.

The pressure eventually told on 20 minutes when a Rainbow corner caused confusion in the Raanana defence the ball flew straight in without touching anyone.

This wasn’t the first time that Raanana have had to come from behind this season and they quickly picked themselves up and searched for an equaliser. For the next five minutes Raanana created a number of half chances, the best of which fell to Aviad Ben Meir 25 yards out, but with the goalkeeper stranded the ball passed agonizingly close to what was an open goal.

Raanana's management then made some changes, moving Josh Lipman to centre back, and Zeev Landsman into the middle. This helped stem the tide at the back and also improve the flow of the game through the middle as Raanana began to dominate.

Their pressure eventually told from a corner and after a scramble in the box, player-manager Gavriel Lebens, making his first start of the season, bundled the ball home.

Lipman moved back to the middle for the second period, with Tito Telias replacing him at the back, and after some galvanizing words from the manager, Raanana came out with an increased sense of urgency. It took they just five minutes to score again, from another corner, after it broke to the edge of the box, with Tito Telias smashing home into the bottom corner to make it 2-1.

Soon after, Hillel Bloch, playing in the unfamiliar role on the right wing, beat his man and sent an early cross which was expertly dispatched by Lebens to make it 3-1.

Raanana were completely dominant, with Mike Isaacson and Rafi Schachat playing it out from the back with ease. It wasn’t long before Raanana found a fourth, a delightful lob by Yigal Jasner from the edge of the box. Yigal soon followed this with a fifth, after which Aviad continued his fine scoring run with a sixth.

Fortunately there was still time for Chanani Corney, who had been a threat all game, to guide the ball past the Rainbow keeper.

For Rainbow, this marked another loss, but they will note how they more than matched the league leaders for the first half, and if they can maintain their work rate in the second half it will not be long before they begin to collect points.

Victory ensured Raanana stay at the summit, and as they approach the halfway point of the season they just may begin to dream about the trophy.