Ironi Tiberias and Maccabi Petach Tikva played to a goalless draw that saw the Kineret side who were playing at home stay in the top league while the visitors were relegated to the second division with the tie as a point was not enough to keep them in the Premier League.

Tiberias bench boss Eliran Hodeida reflected on the match, “I’ve been at Tiberias for four years now, there have been difficult and good moments – but we’ve never strayed from the path that we are on as a franchise. We have to say thank you to those who run this business and give me the quiet to be able to do what needs to be done. One of the most important things about the club throughout my time here is that I never had to be worried about my status for a moment. They know what I’m doing at the club and credit goes to my wife and daughters as it’s been difficult for me lately.”

Petach Tikva Head Coach Noam Shoham spoke about the game and now having to head down to the Leumit League, “We were unable to continue the momentum we had had because there are other teams fighting at the bottom. We thought 32 points would be enough, in the end even 33 wasn’t enough. I won’t start talking about how the team was built because once I took over the team, all the responsibility was on me and I will take all the responsibility onto myself.”

Ashdod pounded Kiryat Shemona 4-2 as a pair of early second half penalties secured the port city side’s survival to play in the first division for the upcoming season. After a goalless first half, the hosts jumped all over the northerners with a pair of penalties from Mohammed Kna’an and Roy Levy while Israel Coll added a third marker just a quarter hour into the second half. However, Denis Kulikov and Roei Zikri quickly pulled the visitors to within 3-2 but Ebenezer Mamatah found the back of the goal in the 92nd minute to seal the deal and hand Ashdod the 3-points.
“Before I arrived, I made a very difficult decision, it didn’t make financial or professional sense,” Ashdod Head Coach Haim Silvas began. “Everyone I consulted with before told me not to take the Ashdod job, because they knew they had more games coming up against Maccabi Haifa and Netanya and we were down five points. But, I’m a person of faith and I was excited to come here. I believed in the players and I knew that something that was almost impossible could be done.”

“You could write a book that would become a bestseller about our last two seasons,” Kiryat Shemona bench boss Shai Barda said. “There wasn’t a person in the country who didn’t think we would be relegated. The playoffs weren’t as good as our regular season was, but there were quite a few reasons for that. I have to say that at the beginning of the season we faced a lot of challenges. The team achieved above and beyond this season. I’m proud of Kiryat Shmona and we managed to stay in the league very early. We’ll rest and I hope we’ll be back in Kiryat Shemona as soon as possible.”

Hapoel Jerusalem downed Hapoel Hadera 4-2 as Guy Badash scored a brace to finish off the season in style with a win and the 3-points. Eylon Almog hammered home a header thanks to an Ohad Alamgor cross for a quick strike in the 10th minute while Badash doubled the advantage on the stroke of halftime for 2-0 lead. Badash added his second of the match off a free kick in the 53rd minute while Matan Hozez scored the team’s 4th marker via a penalty a quarter hour later. Hadera pulled back a pair of goals as Jose Cortes and James Adeniyi both scored but it was too little too late for the hosts as the Reds took the win.

Eylon Almog reflected on his time with Jerusalem on loan from Hapoel Beer Sheva, “I’m happy that I played here for the second half of the season. This club believed in me, especially the Head Coach Ziv Arie. I could have given more, I had a lot of chances, but all in all I have to say thank you. I worked hard and it gave me a lot of drive to continue on. I will return to Hapoel Beer Sheva and I don’t know what will happen next. I will do my best, I will give everything and time will tell what will occur. I hope I will stay, I will play and everything will be fine. I hope that Hapoel Beer Sheva will win the championship. I will work hard, I will do my best and I believe that good things will come and I will continue to fulfill my dreams.”

Hadera Head Coach Nimrod Kostica summed up the game, “The result was not reflective of how we played and we should have at least finished in a draw, we could have even won. We controlled the ball 70% of the game and we had countless chances. If I had started the season here, we would have stayed in the league 100%. If they leave a good base for next season perhaps it will be possible that I will return. There are players here who can be leaders in the Leumit League and I really want to stay but as I understand it the chances are very small that I will.”

Maccabi Bnei Reineh blanked Bnei Sakhnin 1-0 on Omri Altman’s 17th minute goal to end the season on a high note.

Reineh Head Coach Sharon Mimer wrapped up the campaign, “We had a good season although we became a bit confused on the pitch near the end. But it should be mentioned that we had a 50% success rate in the playoffs. We weren’t in any relegation battles for a single day and we can see which clubs are there. We have to say thank you very much for this season, it was a great season for Reineh. We can say that we could have done more, but we won’t be greedy. Every season like this for a club like Reineh is an amazing season.”

Sakhnin bench boss Menachem Koretzky commented, “We needed to produce the DNA that prepared us for the relegation playoffs going forward and we should not pretend to be something else. We have to come into a game and understand the limitations we have and get the points. We ended up doing something great and now the club needs to breathe a bit after the season it went through and begin to build a team that will lead Sakhnin to a better place going forward.”