'The Rasco challenge met', Yakum FC wins 2-1.
Playing against Rasco is always a challenge when it comes to Yakum FC. Games are traditionally physical and tough, and not one red card had been drawn by refs in past encounters; Rasco has some big names: Benni Lam, Pudi Halfon, Baruch Hasan, all respected members of the legendary Macabi Netania of the early '80, who crushed Israel's premiere League for 2 championships. Although Rasco has yet to win this season, there is no dispute about the quality of their players.

The game took place in friday afternoon at the local stadium of Yakum. Conditions were superb: 23-25 c, a mild wind and the grass trimmed. Rasco took control in the early stages of the game. Yakum tried to keep pressure on Rasco's midfield, but the experienced figures from Netania broke the pressure with quick short passes, and by sending the ball to the wings, to create some degree of confusion for Yakum's defense. The R&B reacted with fast-breaks and created dangerous situations near the Rasco goal, but these chances were missed frustratingly. Rasco was the first to score: Baruch Hasan was sent deep into Yakum's right wing. He passed Eli Livai who fouled him inside the box and the ref signaled for the penalty spot. Benni Lam scored it in the 25th minute. Yakum FC started to gain control of the game, gaining the ball in midfield and cutting through Rasco's defense, gaining corners and putting the heat on. However, unlucky misses, and a hostile ref prevented Yakum from scoring. In at least two occasions, the ref ignored a clear handball inside Rasco's box, and on another occasion, the ref stopped a two on one situation near Rasco's goal for a foul committed before, not yielding the advantage; thus, the score remained 1-0 at half time.
The 2nd half was dominated by Yakum almost from the start. Rasco's only chance occured from a corner kick by Benni Lam, who curved the ball into the close corner, but Eyal B. saved from the line. Yakum dominated, but it took some more missed chances and almost 20 minutes for the R&D to level the score: the play started in midfield, when Eyal B. fond Amir R. who kicked the ball in for Roi C. Roi was brutally tackled by Rasco's full back and this time, the ref had no choice - a penalty kick for Yakum, which was easily scored by Ilan A. The R&D continued to create golden opportunities, but kept on missing. If they only scored half of their chances they would've led the game by at least tow more goals; Roi had two, Ilan had one, but it was Amir R. who finally scored the winning goal, two minutes from the end: Ilan got the ball on the left wing, sent a cross deep into Rasco's right wing, and Amir - taking advantage of Roi's move into the middle which lured Rasco's right defender into the center to cover him - got the ball on the top right corner of the box, saw the keeper coming out of his goal, and elegantly chipped the ball over his head into the left corner... 2-1, Yakum wins.... no red cards... a brilliant ending for a great game.

"We made it harder than it actually was," Amir said after the game, "we had our chances, and we missed. We can't afford to miss these chances when we play against the stronger teams of Givat Haim or Ahituv... Personally, I enjoy playing in midfield, but it's the coach who calls the shots... " Yakum FC's manager David Galimidi, who celebrated today his 49th birthday, remarked: "It was a great birthday present. I plan on having another birthday next week, it seems to help..."