Maccabi Netanya and Bnei Sakhnin played to a goalless draw as the diamond city squad controlled the match for the majority of the minutes but could it find a way past the visitors stingy defense and fine goalkeeping by Raul Balbarau as the sides split the points.

After thirty minutes of feeling each other out, Netanya began to attack as Oz Bilu crossed the ball into the box but Dolev Haziza was a step to slow while Bassam Zarora’s point blank chance was saved by the Sakhnin keeper Raul Balbarau. Matheus Davo came into the box and unleashed a screamer that was just blocked while Zarora’s header was punched away at the last second as the sides went into the break goalless.

Sakhnin tried to press for an early second half goal but came up short with their efforts while at the other end Maor Levi’s chance was just tipped away from the goal. Netanya Head Coach Roni Levy made a trio of substitutions as Yarin Abuhazira came on to make his league debut.

The diamond city side pushed forward to try and find the winner as they had one corner kick after the next but kept coming up just short of finding the back of the goal. As Netanya desperately searched for a marker, Nadav Nidam’s attempt just went wide right of the goal while Levy’s charges were held by Yossi Abuksis’s squad to a goalless draw.

Roni Levy reflected on the game that was, “We controlled the game and while we really found some solutions to break down Sakhnin we weren’t able to score. We had a mix of players who featured in this game including youngsters Benny Feldman and Yarin Abuhazira but we need to have patience with them. When you have a lot of players packed into the box it’s very hard to break down a team and we tried to get the ball into the area.”

Sakhnin Head Coach Yossi Abuksis spoke about the draw, “I’m happy with the result but not with how we played, we barely controlled the ball and we didn’t deserve much. It’s tough to play at this point with a squad that we are still building but we were able to take a point thanks to our defense. The guys really battled and that’s what I can take from the game.”

Benny Feldman discussed the match from his point of view, “I’m very happy with the opportunities that I am getting but that’s because I also have worked hard. It’s great for me to be able to play for my hometown team and that’s something special for me. There’s no question tha5 we are looking to play in Europe and that is our goal.”

Loai Halaf also spoke about the match, “It was good to come back to Netanya and while we didn’t play well we were able to snatch the point. We still need to add some players and this will take time especially on the offensive side. I felt good on the pitch and didn’t really feel any pressure.”