Beitar shut out Ashkelon in 1-0 pre-season friendly win

Football:

Beitar midfielder Omer Atzily prepares to take a corner during
Beitar's 1-0 win over Ashkelon (sport5)

We are just 9 days away from the opening of the new Israeli Premier League season and Beitar Jerusalem look ready for their opening game as they beat second division Hapoel Ashkelon 1-0 in a pre-season friendly match on Ashkelon's training pitch. The only goal of the game came in the 66th minute when Beitar's captain for the game Shai Hadad took a free-kick from just outside the area and fired the ball past the wall and into the bottom corner of Ashkelon's net. Beitar's usual captain, goalie Ariel Harush, was absent from the game due to his landing in Israel earlier today after flying out to Ukraine with the Israel National Team for their match against the Ukraine National Team in a game which Israel lost by 2 goals to nil. Harush was replaced by second choice goalie Ohad Saidof. "I know that the line-up that we have going into the season isn't one that everybody was hoping for", said Beitar midfielder Ofir Kriaf after the win, "but i believe that we can do good things during the season".

Other pre-season friendly results:
Bnei Sakhnin 3-3 Kiryat Shmona
Hapoel Ra'anana 2-0 Ashdod
Hapoel Haifa 1-1 Maccabi Petach Tikva