League Play-Off

Barhill Park
Spectators: 36 (Terracing: 28, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) Stevenage AFC's Apiguna Bhardwaj started the match with a crisp pass. The crowd had been anticipating this game for weeks and the excitement in the stadium was easily visible. Kartikeya Vadhwa received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 5th minute. Atima Ayer tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. In the 8th minute, Kartikeya Vadhwa ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Atima Ayer was frozen by the shot and now it was 0-1. 18 minutes into the match, Kartikeya Vadhwa notched a goal, 0-2, to the right of Barhill AFC's Atima Ayer. Atima Ayer was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. Adyasarana Vurghese came free with the goalkeeper in the 21st minute of the match, and shot straight on target. The shot was a little too simple and Baladitya Sanghera could save by the left post. Dhrstaka Chawla's late challenge caught a Barhill AFC's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Dhrstaka Chawla helped the player get up and apologised. After 22 played minutes Stevenage AFC got a freekick which was hit by Dhrstaka Chawla. Atima Ayer made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Apiguna Bhardwaj in the 28th minute of play. If Kartikeya Vadhwa had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 29th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Atima Ayer made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Apiguna Bhardwaj in the 31st minute of play. After having played for 35 minutes, Kartikeya Vadhwa managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Stevenage AFC's supporters crossed their fingers, but Kartikeya Vadhwa was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. An unexpectedly hard shot by Kartikeya Vadhwa in the 41st minute of play forced Barhill AFC's goalkeeper Atima Ayer to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Atima Ayer made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Kartikeya Vadhwa in the 43rd minute of play.

When the second half was about to start, both teams quickly lined up and Guruda Arora made a kick off. Devidatta Samra might have been able to make a better finish in the 57th minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Atima Ayer. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Devidatta Samra ran back to his position shaking his head. In the 59th match minute, Stevenage AFC was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Cikita Linyu to maneuver through the defense. After 65 played minutes Barhill AFC got a freekick which was hit by Dinesh Kalirai. Kartikeya Vadhwa struck a weak shot in the 69th minute. Atima Ayer didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for Stevenage AFC. Dhrstaka Chawla did some fancy footwork in front of goal and succeeded to deceive the defenders so he could slam the ball in 0-3 to the left of a surprised Atima Ayer 71 minutes into the match. In the 73rd minute, Apiguna Bhardwaj hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. During the 76th minute of the match Dinesh Kalirai completely mistimed his tackle and brought down his opponent. The referee gave Dinesh Kalirai a yellow card, his second in the match, which meant he could no longer take part in the game. Dinesh Kalirai kicked well hit freekick during the 77th minute of the match. Apiguna Bhardwaj spun around in front of the goal 82 minutes in the game, and got away a shot that, to his disappointment, went to the left of Barhill AFC's goal. Baladitya Sanghera showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Adyasarana Vurghese in the 86th minute of the match. 87 minutes into the match, Barhill AFC's goal looked a bit too open when Apiguna Bhardwaj came free, but Atima Ayer reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. If Apiguna Bhardwaj had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 90th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. An unexpectedly hard shot by Apiguna Bhardwaj in the 95th minute of play forced Barhill AFC's goalkeeper Atima Ayer to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Stevenage AFC's players went to the stands to thank the travelling support. The fan's backing had helped spurr the team on to a fine performance that won them the match.