Hapoel Tel Aviv blanked Ashdod 2-0 as youngster Daniel Dappa continues to impress for the Reds in Toto Cup action. The 17-year old Dappa score a brilliant goal off a Yazan Nasaar pass in the 23rd minute and then played facilitator when he turned in the box and found a wide open oncoming Ran Binyamin in second half injury time to finish off a 2-0 victory. With the win, Hapoel Tel Aviv will move into the semifinals of the Toto Cup where they will face Hapoel Beer Sheva down south this coming weekend.

“First of all, congratulations to the players,” Hapoel assistant coach Dusan Matovic began in place of the suspended Elyaniv Barda. “We advanced to the semifinals and that was our goal in the tournament. We scored at the start of the game and then again we found the back of the goal at the end of the matchup and with a little luck we now have the chance to compete for the trophy. The atmosphere was crazy here with a lot of fans and we were able to score that second goal to send us into the semifinals on goal differential despite Hapoel Jerusalem having won 4-0 against Maccabi Netanya.

Ashdod Head Coach Haim SIlvas also reflected on the game, “Although it’s the Toto Cup, we obviously want to win just like every game that we play. The first half saw us make a mistake here and a mistake there but in the second half I was happy with how we played, however, we lacked quality up front and we are aware of that.

Hapoel Jerusalem demolished Maccabi Netanya 4-0 as four different goal scorers found the back of the net. Guy Badash gave the reds a 1-0 lead in the first half via the penalty spot while Ofek Nadir, Orel Baye and Andrew Idoko all scored in the second half to give the capital city squad the victory.

Jerusalem bench boss Ziv Arie looked back at the win, “I said from the beginning of the year that the Toto Cup was not a goal for us although we were close to advancing to the semifinals. This was another good preseason game for us and I hope that we arrive at the start of the league season ready to go. I enjoyed seeing the players’ commitment and their desire to learn.”

Netanya assistant Ohad Kadussi spoke about the game from his point of view in place of the suspended Yossi Abuksis, “We wanted to win the game and it’s a shame that we lost with this result. We had some good chances but it’s all part of the process we’re going through and I believe we’ll improve. A loss like this is good that it happened now and not in the league.”