League

Rawmarsh Stadium
Spectators: 7500 (Terracing: 6000, Seating: 1450, VIP seats: 50) Canberra Raiders's Tsotne Burduli 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. After 4 played minutes, FC GAGRA's Nodar Sagharadze shot from a long distance, and at first it looked like the ball was going into the goal, but the goalkeeper Xiao Yuan Zhen came through and got his fingers on the ball before it flew over the goal line. He then quickly gripped the ball tighter before the forwards in FC GAGRA reached it. 6 minutes into the match, Canberra Raiders's goalkeeper Xiao Yuan Zhen had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Nikolaj Gvaramadze. If Djvebe Dzotsenidze had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 10th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Tsotne Burduli received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 11th minute. Lukhum Jandieri tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Kang Jun recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 15th minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. After a rather tough play, Canberra Raiders's Emiriev Milakiev got a free kick in the 16th minute. Andrey Mingrelsky hit a great freekick 18 minutes into the match. The supporters of FC GAGRA booed when Canberra Raiders was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 21 match minutes in a wonderful position. Shoshita Aragvsky didn't get a good kick on the ball. Thanks to some nice foot action and superb ball handling Tsotne Burduli in the 30th minute a chance for a shot on goal. With an extended leg and a bit of luck Lukhum Jandieri prevented the ball from getting in the gole. In the 32ndth minute of the game Tsotne Burduli who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but FC GAGRA's Lukhum Jandieri was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. Tsotne Burduli fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 33rd minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Lukhum Jandieri having to interfere. An unexpectedly hard shot by Bondo Cholokaev in the 34th minute of play forced FC GAGRA's goalkeeper Lukhum Jandieri to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. 36 minutes into the match, Canberra Raiders's goalkeeper Xiao Yuan Zhen had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Nikolaj Gvaramadze. Emiriev Milakiev hit a great freekick 45 minutes into the match. Nodar Sagharadze took a chance and fired a shot far from the goal in the 48th minute, but it turned out to be a dangerous situation for Xiao Yuan Zhen. Canberra Raiders's goalkeeper really had to stretch himself to stop the ball from crossing the goal line.

When the second half was about to start, both teams quickly lined up and Filipp Sulaberidze made a kick off. Andrey Mingrelsky might have been able to make a better finish in the 54th minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Lukhum Jandieri. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Andrey Mingrelsky ran back to his position shaking his head. Djvebe Dzotsenidze fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 55th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Lukhum Jandieri having to interfere. Lukhum Jandieri showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Tsotne Burduli in the 62nd minute of the match. After some careless play in the FC GAGRA defense, Tsotne Burduli kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Lukhum Jandieri. The FC GAGRA fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Lukhum Jandieri should have stopped the shot. A collision led to Canberra Raiders getting a freekick after 73 minutes play. Emiriev Milakiev hit a great ball. 81 minutes into the match, Canberra Raiders's goal looked a bit too open when Filipp Sulaberidze came free, but Xiao Yuan Zhen reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Tsotne Burduli fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 82nd minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Lukhum Jandieri having to interfere. Canberra Raiders's Andrey Mingrelsky got a good chance for a goal in the 90th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. Tsotne Burduli hit a great freekick 91 minutes into the match. 95 minutes into the match, Canberra Raiders's goal looked a bit too open when Filipp Sulaberidze came free, but Xiao Yuan Zhen reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. In the 96th minute, Tsotne Burduli got an opportunity to score, but he didn't get a solid hit on the ball and ended up kicking it wide of the goal. The referee blew the final whistle, and the away crowd roared, having watched Canberra Raiders eke out a victory against a very well matched opponent.