Rugby: Tel Aviv staves off Jezreel comeback in rainy final

ASA Tel Aviv beat Hapoel Jezreel-Gilboa 12-9 in a close championship final last weekend that turned out to be more tense than expected. Even the ridiculous amount of rain that poured on the pitch was unable to quench the fire inside the players from the north - who remained in the picture until the final seconds. However, in the end the better and more talented team prevailed to claim the men's Premier League title. In the consolation game, Ra'anana defeated Ashkelon to claim third place.

The final was played at an exceptionally fast pace relative to the rest of the league as Jezreel - which came into the game having won the championship the previous five years but was the underdog after recovering from a disastrous start to the season - gave all it had from the opening whistle.

Just minutes into the match, rain started pouring down in buckets and turned into a virtual storm by the end. Still, some 200 dedicated fans stayed until the very end to see whether Tel Aviv would prevail.

In the first half, Tzachi Tessler and Dave Bowman - after an amazing run of some 75 meters while dodging would-be tacklers - scored a try apiece for Tel Aviv. Stas Gurtovoy added a conversion, sending the favorites into halftime with a 12-0 lead.

Jezreel returned determined to not let the title slip away while the increasingly intense rain slowed down the running game. Amir Beutler managed to cut Tel Aviv's lead to 12-9 with three straight penalty kicks, the last one with just seven minutes remaining.

The clock wound down to one minute, but Jezreel could not break through Tel Aviv's defense. Then Tel Aviv gave away a penalty 10 meters from its try line. Jezreel's player-coach Isaiah Malatau took the ball and charged ahead of his players, who wedged behind him as he entered the ruck. The Fijian fell just a meter from the line, and his teammates held onto the ball and took it out, only to force another ruck right on the try line.

However, Jezreel's foul in the same ruck turned the ball over to Tel Aviv, which kicked clear. Ariel Cabral, the league's young, much valued referee, blew the final whistle - and an exhausted Tel Aviv side and their fans began the celebrations.

Gurtovoy commented after the game: "I said we would win the championship. I knew Jezreel would do everything in its power, and you can never discount them. We spat a lot of blood today in the full meaning of the word, but victory this way is sweeter. The rain still allowed for scoring some beautiful tries, and afterward we managed to prevent Jezreel from scoring tries of its own."

Jezreel's Beutler said his team didn't deserve to lose the game, but Tel Aviv certainly deserved the championship.

In the consolation game, Ra'anana beat Ashkelon 33-24 led by a pair of tries by Omer Halfi. Misha Eli of Ashkelon also scored two tries in the losing effort.