After three games without a win in the league, MS Ashdod defeated Hapoel Kfar Saba 0: 2 last night (Thursday) and in fact almost officially secured its place in the top playoff. Ran Ben Shimon’s team only needs one point to get the long-awaited ticket to a place they have not been since the 2011/12 season, but the club knows that only something unexpected can take their place and started the playoff celebrations yesterday. With the final whistle of referee Uriel Greenfeld at the Eleventh Stadium, the team from the port city put on wide smiles but still did not look completely celebrating.
The real celebration began with the entrance to the locker room when one of the club members was sent to purchase cold beers for all the players, the music increased to maximum volume and the water bottles, isotonic drinks and even cups of tea were spilled everywhere. Everyone seemed very happy, smiling and did not stop stormy dancing for a long time after the game. “We keep them short all season, it’s their time to release,” said the club. “These players have been through quite a bit this season. They have proven themselves every week and are now reaping the rewards. They will celebrate a bit and get back on track for Hapoel Hadera.”
Prominent among the celebrants was undoubtedly the team coach Ran Ben Shimon who allowed himself to fool around a bit and provided some particularly impressive dance moves and mostly did not take the smile off for a moment both from the victory and the presence of his guest of honor at the stadium, his sister Dana who defined it as much more than a mascot for him. The coach who recently signed a contract extension for another three years, in addition to the current season, at the Ashdod club is very close to leading the team to an impressive achievement while they are in third place and can already dream beyond the top playoff, towards a ticket to Europe with 38 points and a gap of five points from fourth-fifth places There are Maccabi Petah Tikva and Hapoel B’Shlosha that have the same balance.
The team complimented the conqueror of the duo who won the match, Dean David while the club are very pleased with the striker’s ability and improvement last season while the connection between him and his coach seems to be very good. “Ren gives him a lot of confidence and quiet,” the group said. “Dean used to play on the edge but Ren worked with him and insisted he could do much more than that. The results were immediate because Dean worked like crazy in training to get better and progress.” Ashdod know that due to the ability displayed this season, the 24-year-old striker, who scored his seventh goal of the season last night, will be a very prominent player in this summer’s transfer striker.
Beyond the goals on the field, the team also has contractual goals regarding its two prominent players in the center of the field, Roi Gordana and Shlomi Azulai, with whom negotiations are underway regarding the extension of their contracts that end this summer. As for the latter, the professional team congratulated him on his return from the hip injury that had sidelined him recently and also mostly praised the ability he displayed that included cooking the second gate that was awarded the title of “Touch of an Artist”.
“I am very happy to be back after the period of the injury,” he concluded Azoulay At the end, “It was not easy to see the team from the outside and especially we did not win so I really wanted to come back as soon as possible to help. I am glad we came to this game with a goal we set for ourselves and it is to win it to come calm towards the top playoffs. More calm, we can play our game, in our quiet and already preparing for the top playoff.It is not easy to deal with the load but because of the Corona and everything that happened to the league because of this the situation was created and we have to get used to it.We have no large staff and have to maneuver between all players to continue goals our”.
Meanwhile, the team is soon expected to strengthen while its acquisition player from the January transfer window, midfielder Mogis Zakaria will land this coming Monday, 8.3, after the team managed to get the special permits and especially find a flight in light of the situation at Ben Gurion Airport. His landing will not need isolation and he will be able to join his new friends straight away. On the same day that he will land, the team will host Hapoel Hadera at the 11th Stadium as part of the 24th round of the Premier League.