Ra’aanana turn on the style against title rivals

Ra’anana did not let their heads drop and quickly regained their rhythm, with marksmen Aviad Ben Meir and Gabi Kanikofsky giving the England FC defenders a headache all night.

And it came as no surprise when Ra'anana drew level after 15 minutes, when Hanani Corney broke free down the left and delivered a delightful ball into the path of Ben Meir who laid it into the path of Chaim Elimicech to slot home.

England were clearly rattled and struggling to keep hold of the Ra’annana front two. With the momentum behind them, Ra’anana capitalised again, with Corney swinging in a stunning cross from the left wing for Kanikofsky to fire home.

England, to their credit, they ensured Ra'anana did not dictate, forcing the Ra’anana defence to keep working. The game became stretched in midfield, with halft-time approaching, and the ball fell to Yuval Ruppin with time and space to pick his spot he rifled the ball into the top right from 35 yards.

The game was on a knife-edge, with momentum and possession swinging between the sides. It took a moment of great determination and brilliance to put Ra’anana back in front. Having made several changes before the end of first half, Ze’ev Landsman pressed the England’s defence and forced an error which allowed him to play in Gabi who side-stepped his marker before taking his opportunity clinically. 3-2 at the break but all still to play for.

Ra’anana’s new found confidence and maturity began to show in the second half as they controlled the game and ran the tempo as and when it suited them. Gabi and Aviad continued to cause panic, while they remained solid at the back, with Mike Issacson doing a fantastis job sweeping up, while Josh Lipman maintained balance in the middle of the park.

But man-of-the-match belonged to the young Gabi Kanikofksy, who play a key role in Ra'anana's fourth on the hour. A twinkle-toed run, which started 50 yards from goal, saw him accelerate into a mazy dribble before finding the corner of the net to claim his well-deserved hat-trick.

The scoring was wrapped up in the final minutes as Hillel Bloch found Ze’ev this time on right. The breakaway ended with another accomplished finished after he played in Aviad to claim his 10th goal of the campaign.

Ra’anana joint manager Avi Wiesenberg said: "I am pleased we played to our potential today and the team has gelled quickly., I think it’s too early to be talking about a title, but there is a real belief in this team.

"We have finally started to mature and the addition of a few new signings, combined with young talent, has given us a much stronger backbone.

"Our experience has grown, allowing us to take the game to opponent. With our strikers in the form they are in, I believe we should beat anyone in the league on our day.

"Our next game is another big test. Jerusalem have a pitch that doesn’t suit our free-flowing football and like to suffocate any actual football from being played so it’s often hard to break them down on such a small pitch.

"I won’t be drawn into title winning speculation until we’ve played a few more games, but will be nice to keep this winning streak going."