4,293 Days.

That’s how long it took for Hapoel Tel Aviv fans to experience a dandy Derby victory over their bitter city rivals Maccabi Tel Aviv in a game that finished 2-1 in favor of the reds.

As crazy as it sounds and it is kind insane when one thinks about it, but a 10 year old child who has rooted and cheered on the reds his entire life had not yet seen a Derby win until this week.

The two clubs played one another 30 times over almost 12 years since their last win on April 26, 2014 to be exact in a game that Omer Damari, Orel Degani and Gili Vermouth, who actually was doing this match on radio for this year’s victory, all scored. Not in the supporters wildest dreams did they ever envision a drought so long and so frustrating that would have begun way back then.

Over the course of these thirty contests that were sandwiched between wins, Maccabi won 25 times and drew 5 games as they scored 56 goals and conceded only 10. That was quite the run to say the least.

Add to the fact that less than two weeks ago, Maccabi defeated Hapoel on penalties in a State Cup Round of 16 Derby in what was a devastating defeat for the players and staff as well as for the fans. At that junction, they probably felt after one of the most cruelest of losses that they would never, ever see the reds win another derby. But here and now and without arguably their most dangerous player in Stav Turiel along with captain Mayembo it seemed to be an impossibility that they would find a way to chalk up a win in what was a yellow-and-blue home matchup.

However, after what had been a miserable and poorly played aa well as forgettable derby that saw a lone goal being scored over the course of the contest via Maccabi captain Dor Peretz, no one in their right minds would have ever thought Hapoel were going to score a pair of goals in three minutes with time running down.

But that is what miraculously occurred.

First, a pair of substitutes combined to draw Hapoel even as Xander Silva sent a perfect ball to Omri Altman who headed home the tying goal in the 91st minute. With the unfathomable strike, the reds faithful, who were sitting right behind the goal went absolutely bananas as the 31-year old lifted their spirits a thousand fold in what had been a brutal 90 minutes of play.

With new life, Hapoel began to push hard for a winner as they sensed Maccabi backpedaling and perhaps about to crack under pressure, which is what eventually happened to the utter delight of Reds fans throughout the nation.

Kervin Andrade committed what was a poorly timed foul that allowed Hapoel to take control of the ball a bit over midfield which allowed the reds to send it toward the box. Andrian Kraev sent a low shot towards Ofek Melika’s goal that was cleared off the line by Itai Ben Hemo, however, the rebound landed right at the feet of another defender in Chico who slammed it home for the unlikeliest of wins.

After the marker was confirmed by the VAR (Virtual Assistant Referee) and the final whistle was blown, the celebrations began in earnest as the fans feted their heroes for more than an hour in the stadium and then for two more hours outside of Bloomfield. With 3,000 fans in the stadium another 5,000 arrived from around the city to experience the excitement and euphoria when each player walked out of the stadium and were hoisted onto their shoulders.

The festivities moved to various clubs and bars from there as head coach Elyaniv Barda cancelled morning practice with a huge smile on his face.

Barda, who was a star player for the reds as well as Hapoel Beer Sheva, Maccabi Haifa and of course in Belgium for a decade with Genk, arrived to take over the coaching reins in the middle of last season was able to guide the team from the second division Leumit League back up to the Premier League.

This was his first mission with the club, the second was to finally break the more than decade long derby drought and while he came oh so close in the State Cup, he broke the curse less than two weeks later.

Many thought that Barda was not going to be able to guide a team to the top as he had been in charge of Beer Sheva previously and despite capturing a State Cup with the southern reds, it was not good enough for their owner Alona Barkat as she sent him packing. Now it looks like he has found a home where he can make a difference as just last week he defeated Beer Sheva with a last gasp goal and now he slayed the dragon with not one strike but two.

Barda is taking this team on a journey and he believes in the players that are taking part in it, where they are sharing both the most difficult moments together as well as those great times as they will continue to grow as one unit. It’s his calm, cool and collective grace that allows him to earn the trust of his charges and of course of the fans. His resume as both a bench boss and player shows that he has beaten Maccabi Tel Aviv and understands how to win the big game.

But he knows that he has plenty of work to do in order to take his team to the next level which is to compete for the top spot. That includes seeing his team becoming more consistent especially by winning on the road which has been an issue this season but that will come with time as it’s clear that ownership, led by Edmund and his son Moise Safra have the club going the right direction.

Right now, Hapoel and their fans want to relish in the victory after suffering for so many years with one lousy derby result after the next. For them, there is real joy in what was an amazing achievement and one where the supporters are proud as well as thankful to each person who is part of the club.

This derby victory will be etched and ingrained in those fans for the rest of their lives as they will speak about how the likes of Chico, Omri Altman and Eliyaniv Barda finally broke through and did the unthinkable after 4,293 long and dreary days. It was a dream come true.