Week 18 brings us a match on Jan 14th, where Ironi Kiryat Shmona hosts Hapoel Hadera in a clash of these two closely matched Ligat ha’Al teams. The game day is forecasted to be a cloudy and cool day, with daytime temperatures of only 12 degrees, which should make for a nice day for football. In their last match, 12th placed Ironi Kiryat Shmona, recorded a 1-0 shutout win against Maccabi Bnei Raina. Yadin Lugasi struck first for Ironi Kiryat Shmona in the 75th minute, and that was all the excitement the two teams could muster At the end of 90 a dissapointed Maccabi Bnei Raina couldn’t manage to score, and Ironi Kiryat Shmona took the shutout win. Ironi Kiryat Shmona looks to improve on their recent performance, having earned only 7 points in their last 10 matches, while in their last match, 7th placed Hapoel Hadera, recorded a 0-3 loss against Hapoel Haifa. Gidi Kanuk struck first for Hapoel Haifa in the 24th minute, then Tomer Yosefi added another in the 72nd minute on a feed from Serdal In the end, Hapoel Hadera couldn’t muster any offence and Hapoel Haifa ran away with the shutout win. Hapoel Hadera looks to improve on their recent performance, having lost 4 of their last 10.
In their last match on Sep 18th, Hapoel Hadera and Ironi Kiryat Shmona battled to a 1-1 draw. Shaker struck first for Ironi Kiryat Shmona in the 54th minute, but Alfred Stephen got the equalizer for Hapoel Hadera in the 73rd minute earning Hapoel Hadera at least a draw.
For Hapoel Hadera, their top scorers are Eyal Chen and Niv Gutlib, each having 2 goals in their last 5 matches. Ironi Kiryat Shmona is fortunate enough to have Muhamad Shaker in top form. In the last 5 matches the attacker has scored four goals.