Local Soccer: Bnei Sakhnin draws Hapoel Tel Aviv

They will need to defeat another Premier League club in the quarterfinals to claim the title.

By ALLON SINAI
Published: APRIL 26, 2007 10:06
bnei sakhnin in goal 88 (photo credit: )
bnei sakhnin in goal 88
(photo credit: )
After knocking out Maccabi Netanya and Maccabi Tel Aviv in earlier rounds, National League leader Bnei Sakhnin will need to defeat yet another Premier League club in the quarterfinals of the State Cup to claim the title for the second time in its history. Sakhnin, which won the Cup in 2004, will visit current holder Hapoel Tel Aviv at Bloomfield Stadium. Third division side Hapoel Ramat Gan, which lifted the Cup in 2003, will host Maccabi Haifa, which needs to win the title to guarantee itself UEFA Cup qualification. Maccabi Petah Tikva hosts Ashdod SC in the only allPremier League match of the quarterfinals, with Hapoel Ashkelon facing Hapoel Haifa in the remaining fixture. The quarterfinals will be played on May 1-2. Hapoel Petah Tikva deducted three points Any hope Hapoel Petah Tikva had of avoiding relegation from the Premier League flew out the window Wednesday afternoon when an Israeli Football Association tribunal deducted three points from the team for financial irregularities. Hapoel was hit with the severe punishment for failing to report to the IFA's budget control authority NIS 615,000 it paid to Bnei Sakhnin for Ahmed Kasum. Petah Tikva, which has only won three matches this season, is 14 points away from safety as a result of the point deduction and with just five matches remaining, needs a miracle to escape relegation.