Monkey 3 - 5 balbalim (381044888)

21969 punters turned up at Johnny Cay, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came. Sidónio Cunha was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Thom Geling and Sigurd Ødegård. Fans of both teams had been eagerly awaiting this Ramat Gan derby and were doing their best to outshout their opponents. Monkey tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Starters: Shkedi - Keinan, Bar, Sanders - Hertz, Daniel, Shamai, Aboo, Flori - Sagron, Meron.

A 4-4-2 alignment was the formation of choice for balbalim. Lineup: Branz - Shmilovich, Argov, Benayoun, Elkins - Romano, Padgett, Hamdan, Griffith - Kaleniecki, Apel.

Monkey took the lead, 1 - 0, after a penalty 39 minutes into the match. N. Bar scored from the penalty spot. Monkey increased the lead as K. Sagron struck to make the score 2 - 0 after an attack from the left left him unmarked in front of the keeper. balbalim were desperate to get a goal back and pushed forward through the middle 42 minutes into the game. After a scramble in the box, the ball dropped to T. Shmilovich, who smashed it home to make the score 2 - 1. 2 - 1 was the halftime score. Monkey enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 59 percent of possession.

Monkey's R. Shamai saw his fine effort strike the top of the bar following some good work up the middle by his teammates after 58 minutes. balbalim caught their opponents out with a clever counterattack down the right wing 69 minutes into the match. F. Apel was able to finish off the move - 2 - 2. 70 minutes into the match, the referee signalled for a balbalim substitution. I. Ashkenazi came on for N. Romano. balbalim's E. Griffith got himself booked for a foul. After 77 minutes, the balbalim coach wanted to see a new face on the pitch, waving M. Elkins off the field. S. Erkinjuntti took his place. After 78 minutes, balbalim's I. Ashkenazi made his way through the middle and nonchalantly placed the ball out of the keeper's reach, putting the visitors up 2 - 3. 86 minutes into the match, Monkey's T. Meron demonstrated his famed speed as he raced past his marker and passed the ball to K. Sagron who chipped it in for 3 - 3. With the match clock at 86 minutes, balbalim modified their style of play a little bit. Priding himself in being an active coach, the balbalim manager gave new instructions to his players after 86 minutes. The guests took the lead 88 minutes into the match, after a right-side attack resulted in J. Kaleniecki scoring to make it 3 - 4. After 89 minutes, an incisive pass through the middle gave F. Apel a chance to increase the lead for balbalim, and he did not disappoint. The score was then 3 - 5. Content with how the game was proceeding, the balbalim coach let E. Tur replace F. Apel after 89 minutes. The balbalim captaincy was handed to O. Argov. balbalim claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 52 percent.

K. Sagron performed admirably for Monkey. On the other hand, M. Daniel's play was disheartening. balbalim's top performer was clearly O. Argov. A. Branz on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 3 - 5.