Misfiring Hapoel Held to Stalemate

After last week’s strong start to Eytan Millan’s tenure as the new Hapoel Hyde Park manager, his side were held to a frustrating draw yesterday against the recently relegated Medics&Dentists team, with Millan unfazed by the quality of his opposition. 

Lining up in a 4-3-3 formation and missing club captain Roye Chitiyat, Hapoel’s goalkeeper Jamie Margolis was forced into making an early catch following a successful Medics attack. Hapoel were quick to respond with a succession of early chances from Jonah Hirschel and Toby Anthony, with the former’s attempt being sent wide and the latter’s being saved by the Medics goalkeeper. The team also defended effectively in the first half, with some important challenges made by Nathan Mann and Adam Cohen. 

Hapoel successfully won a penalty following a foul on Hirschel, which was then successfully converted by Jonothan Daniel. The opposition then won two free kicks before the break, with one fired over the bar and the other going wide. After a poorly taken free kick from Hapoel, the team had successfully held onto their lead going into the break. 

Hapoel made a poor start to the second half, and the Medics successfully won another free kick which was sent over the bar, however this was then followed up with a scrappy equaliser from the opponents, making it 1-1. Millan then made his first substitutions of the game, bringing on Ben Masson and Sam Clarfield.

Despite Millan’s changes in the second half, Hapoel were unable to get back in front, not taking chances in the box, with Josh Morris also unable to restore the team’s lead from a free kick. In a direct contrast to the first half, the Medics&Dentists took control of the second half of the game, with Toby Mandel booked towards the end of the game after a strong challenge. Millan praised Hirschel for his performance as an unnatural striker by creating space and getting the ball forward, but said that Hapoel had ultimately “not taken our chances”.