League

Krilatitsa Stadion
Spectators: 7654 (Terracing: 5742, Seating: 1760, VIP seats: 152) Rusalka's Branimir Rabakov 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. If Branimir Rabakov had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 8th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Milyo Badzhakov recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 9th minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. A collision led to Newton Heath getting a freekick after 10 minutes play. Bone Michinov hit a great ball. After having played for 11 minutes, Branimir Rabakov managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Rusalka's supporters crossed their fingers, but Branimir Rabakov was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. With a couple of smart ball manuevers Milyo Badzhakov in the 13th managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Prokopi Mednev saved Newton Heath from getting behind. Prokopi Mednev made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Milyo Badzhakov in the 17th minute of play. If Milyo Badzhakov had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 19th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. After some fancy dribbling in the 23rd minute, Branimir Rabakov managed to get in a good position for a shot. Rusalka's supporters rose to their feet, but Branimir Rabakov was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Prokopi Mednev breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. Branimir Rabakov received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 30th minute. Prokopi Mednev tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. After a rather tough play, Newton Heath's Doncho Mentov got a free kick in the 31st minute. Thanks to some nice foot action and superb ball handling Branimir Rabakov in the 36th minute a chance for a shot on goal. With an extended leg and a bit of luck Prokopi Mednev prevented the ball from getting in the gole. Milyo Badzhakov scored 0-1 in the 37th match minute with a shot that went into the goal to the right of Prokopi Mednev, who was just a little too slow in reacting to the shot. 44 minutes into the match, Rusalka's goalkeeper Rashko Dyukmedzhiev had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Slavey Andreychin. Milyo Badzhakov fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 45th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Prokopi Mednev having to interfere. A collision led to Newton Heath getting a freekick after 46 minutes play. Bone Michinov hit a great ball. A nice corner shot did that Igor Gelovski got away a dangerous shot. Despite this Prokopi Mednev quite easily got ahold of the ball to make the save. After the first half Rusalka were leading 0-1. They had played with great self confidence throughout the first half and fully deserved their lead.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Vute Gevezov to make the kick off. The audience thought a goal was coming when Milyo Badzhakov got free with Prokopi Mednev in the 54th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. After having played for 57 minutes, Milyo Badzhakov managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Rusalka's supporters crossed their fingers, but Milyo Badzhakov was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. Branimir Rabakov sent away a hard shot on goal in the 62nd minute, but the ball hit the crossbar and went out. A very good chance for a goal. In the 64th minute, Slavey Andreychin left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Newton Heath fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 1-1. When Branimir Rabakov came up free with the goalie in the 71st minute, the Rusalka fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Branimir Rabakov couldn't finish the play. Slavey Andreychin received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 73rd minute. Rashko Dyukmedzhiev tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Bone Michinov fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 78th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Rashko Dyukmedzhiev having to interfere. After some fancy dribbling in the 80th minute, Slavey Andreychin managed to get in a good position for a shot. Newton Heath's supporters rose to their feet, but Slavey Andreychin was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Rashko Dyukmedzhiev breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. Rusalka's Rashko Dyukmedzhiev played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Bone Michinov in the 84th minute of play. If Milyo Badzhakov had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 87th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. In the 89th minute Branimir Rabakov shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Prokopi Mednev saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. 91 minutes into the match, Milyo Badzhakov had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Prokopi Mednev. Newton Heath's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Milyo Badzhakov was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 1-2. Milyo Badzhakov could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 95th minute of the match, but Prokopi Mednev made a huge save. After 97 minutes of play, the referee blew the whistle. It was a penalty for Rusalka! In the 99th minute there was a penalty for Newton Heath. Todor Lalovski stepped forward and shot the ball to the right of a diving Rashko Dyukmedzhiev. 2-2. Despite being the better team, Rusalka failed to find the winning goal and were forced to settle for a single point.