Today, 02.02.98, my class (Tet 2) played against Tet 5. On Friday (30.01.98), it rained the whole morning so game was postponed. The Thursday game, between Tet 1 and Tet 4, was also postponed due to weather. It will be played tomorrow (03.02.98). It was agreed for our game to be played today. The game was held at our school field, which means that there are only 5 players on each team (4 outfield players + the goalie). Tet 5 were the the big favorites. They are regarded as the best class in the 9th grade. Pre-game estimates were 3 or 4 to 0. We knew that there weakness was in defense, and particularly in goal.
The game began horribly. In the 1st minute, Micha got control of the ball, ran down the sideline and passed to Aryeh in the middle. Aryeh kicked it right back across and into the net. 1-0. There was a big hole in our defense. In the next few minutes, they controlled to ball, but every once in a while, Nadav would steal it at try to get something going. He didn't succeed. In the 6th minute Micha got a ball alone against Felix. He bombed it into Felix's knees and from there into the net. 2-0. Things were looking down. In the last minute of the half (8th), Nadav finally got something going. He dribbled by a defender and was alone against the goalie. He didn't miss. 2-1. That was the halftime score
At the beginning of the 2nd half we started to press. In the 1st minute of the half (9th overall) someone crossed to Nadav and he scored with a spectacular overhead volley. But, he injured himself and Ofer substituted him. But, Nadav wasn't gone for long. He came in for Dima Chertnik a minute after he left (In our tournament a player who has been substituted can come back on). Sure enough, he got his hat-trick. Alone against the goalie, he shot to the far corner and the keeper hadn't a chance. The last 6 minutes were very tense. They threw everything at us, but we handled it well. Felix made some good saves. Barak deflected a shot, and he changed direction while falling and made the save. A couple other times, he saved strong shots from Micha. The best chance in the half fell to Barak. He got a rolling ball on the edge of the penalty area (7 meters from goal), but he didn't strike the ball as intended and it rolled harmlessly out. In the end, we held out. A glorious victory for the underdog against a complacent favorite.
