Bnei Sakhnin blanked Beitar Jerusalem 2-0 to knock the capital city side out of Championship Playoff contention to the delight of their fans at Doha Stadium. After a goalless first half, Nicolao Dumitru nodded the ball over a helpless Beitar keeper Miguel Silva to give the hosts a 1-0 lead in the 67th minute while Dor Hugi blasted the ball home a quarter hour later to take the 2-0 win.

“It’s very disappointing,” Beitar bench boss Yossi Abuksis said following the game. “I think that we had some good momentum but then we just a drop in our quality and fitness and had a tough time scoring. The players put in many minutes over the months and while it looks like a disappointment now, just look at how poorly we began the season and we can look at this a bit differently.”

“We didn’t come in here to ruin anyone,” Sakhnin coach Kobi Refuah said. “After all that we have been through over the past few months this was a very important win for us to stay in the league. The 3-points are the most important thing that I can take out of this game.”

Ashdod downed Maccabi Netanya 2-0 to punch their ticket to the Championship Playoffs. Following a scoreless first half of play, Nassim Ouammou redirected a ball into his own goal to give the port city side a 1-0 lead in the 68th minute as Elton Acolatse scored from in close in second half injury time to close out the two-goal victory.

“We knew that Netanya always opens up games well and we came in very prepared for this,” Ashdod coach Ran Ben Shimon said. “This is a very tough place to play and we played with real intelligence and this was a truly terrific win. We will be playing some big clubs in the Championship Playoffs and we deserve to be here because we came into money time properly.”

“On one hand I’m disappointed because we didn’t play well, we didn’t create chances and were impatient, “ Netanya coach Ron Kozuk explained. “We knew that Ashdod was dangerous and we gave up goals twice. On the other hand if I sum up the regular season I am very proud of the team as we really came a long way as to how we began the season.”

Maccabi Tel Aviv’s troubles continued with a 1-1 draw at Hapoel Haifa to take a point a piece. Nir Bitton headed home the opening goal in the 33rd minute off a Gaby Kanichowsky corner kick but the same Bitton committed a reckless foul early on in the second half to reduce the yellow-and-blue to 10-men. The Carmel Reds took full advantage of the extra man as former Maccabi midfielder Eliel Peretz slammed home the tying goal as the sides split the points.

“This game was different than last week’s,” Maccabi coach Aitor Karanka said. “We controlled the action and had clear chances to score. We lost a player in the second half but even with 10-men we were playing well. This was yet another match that we were in total control and could have won.”

“We came into this game after a tough week where we lost the Derby and a chance to play in the Championship Playoffs,” Haifa coach Roni Levy began. “We had to encourage the players and worked on the mental side of the game as we have to give it our all until the end of the season. We didn’t start the game well but we held Maccabi to minimal chances unfortunately we couldn’t take advantage of the quality situations that we had.”

Hapoel Beer Sheva just slipped by Kiryat Shemona 2-1 as Helder Lopes scored a second half injury time penalty to cancel out his late own goal and hand the southern reds the win. Tomer Hemed opened the scoring early with a 6th minute penalty following a reckless foul in the box. Hemed had the opportunity to double the advantage just ahead of the break via yet another spot kick after Noam Cohen yanked down Eugene Ansah in the box, but the marksman skied his chance over the bar as the hosts took a 1-0 lead into halftime.

As the game neared its end, Helder Lopes’s clearing attempt ended up in his own goal to pull the visitors even, but the defensive back made up for his miscue with a penalty of his own deep into stoppage time to give Beer Sheva the win.

“This is a game that I would like to forget,” Beer Sheva coach Elyaniv Barda said. “There were plenty of chances, three penalties, but on the other hand we were just not good enough and our substitutes didn’t help either. We have a group with a lot of character to believe that we could comeback to win.”

“We forced Beer Sheva to play poorly in this game,” a disappointed Slobodan Drapic began. “They are a good team and I know that from having played them earlier this season. But to have three penalties which I believe not all of them were is tough. We have seven tough games to go and now we have to ready for the relegation playoffs.”

Bnei Reineh recorded a huge 1-0 victory over Hapoel Jerusalem to move out of the relegation zone thanks to a Mark Koszta second half penalty to take the 3-points and the win.

“This was a very important win that will keep up our positive momentum,” Reineh coach Sharon Mimer said. “It was important that we continued what we began to build upon. Jerusalem played very well but I have to take my hat off to the guys. We have 7 matches left and we are now going out to war in order to survive in the top league.”

“We didn’t create enough chances,” Jerusalem bench boss Ziv Arie commented. “We played well for the most part and had some good plays. All in all Hapoel Jerusalem is a club that is going through a process and we played well in the regular season and we deserve to be in the Championship Playoffs. We are very proud.”

Hapoel Hadera scored three unanswered goals to down Sektzia Nes Ziona 3-1 on the road to record the win. Almog Buzaglo gave the hosts a first half 1-0 lead off a counter attack but the visitors would get busy in the second half with a trio of markers. Sami Bourard headed in the tying goal in the 68th minute, Gilad Abramov gave Hadera the lead ten minutes later while Niv Gutlieb added an injury time insurance marker to give Menachem Koretzky’s team the 3-points.

“We didn’t begin the game off well,” Koretzky said. “There was some pressure and during our good minutes was when we conceded a goal off a critical mistake. I told the guys at the break that things are up to us and that we have to calm down. The players got back to themselves in the second half and we won an important game.”

“It’s very tough, there’s no question,” Nes Ziona coach Shlomi Dura began. “Losing against Reineh and now at home. We came into the second half and we knew that we needed to do more but Bozaglo missed a good chance and when things are going against you this is what happens.”