League

NovoPolotsk
Spectators: 6797 (Terracing: 5000, Seating: 1797, VIP seats: 0) The mood of the audience was pleasant when Timofey Rekun made the kick off which started today's match. Aleksandr Naumovich charged in rather forcefully in the 2nd minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Aleksandr Naumovich the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. 4 minutes into the match, NovoPolotsk's Vadim Serada sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Sergey Pivavarov narrowly saved just below the crossbar. Arhip Morozov made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Timofey Rekun in the 6th minute of play. An unexpectedly hard shot by Vadim Serada in the 9th minute of play forced Gomel's goalkeeper Sergey Pivavarov to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. If Bogdan Gagarin had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 10th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Timofey Rekun might have been able to make a better finish in the 18th minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Arhip Morozov. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Timofey Rekun ran back to his position shaking his head. 19 minutes into the match, Gomel's Bogdan Gagarin sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Arhip Morozov narrowly saved just below the crossbar. If Timofey Rekun had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 24th minute. The ball went over the crossbar instead. In the 27th minute Timofey Rekun shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Arhip Morozov saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Sergey Pivavarov showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Vadim Serada, who was totally free with the ball in the 30th minute. Gomel's Sergey Pivavarov played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Vadim Serada in the 33rd minute of play. Bogdan Gagarin sent away a hard shot on goal in the 35th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Svetamir Efremenko hit a great freekick 36 minutes into the match. Bogdan Gagarin received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 39th minute. Arhip Morozov tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. 40 minutes into the match, NovoPolotsk's goal looked a bit too open when Timofey Rekun came free, but Arhip Morozov reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. When Timofey Rekun came up free with the goalie in the 42nd minute, the Gomel 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 Timofey Rekun couldn't finish the play. Bogdan Gagarin sent away a hard shot on goal in the 44th minute, but the ball hit the crossbar and went out. A very good chance for a goal. If Bogdan Gagarin had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 46th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Arhip Morozov made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Timofey Rekun in the 48th minute of play. The first half was very even, with the score at 0-0 when the whistle went for half-time. The players welcomed the break and quickly retired to the dressing rooms.

NovoPolotsk's defense didn't have a chance, in the 51st minute, when Timofey Rekun scored to the left of an out of position Arhip Morozov, making the score, 0-1. After 57 played minutes NovoPolotsk got a freekick which was hit by Ilia Revin. NovoPolotsk's Arhip Morozov proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 61st minute of the match, managed to save NovoPolotsk from getting a goal against them. A collision led to NovoPolotsk getting a freekick after 62 minutes play. Petr Khadatovich hit a great ball. In the 65th minute, Ilia Revin hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. The long shot by Konstantin Maskalevich in the 65th minute really tested Arhip Morozov's skills. The ball was on its way into the goal to the left of him when he managed to stretch himself and save the shot and avoid a goal. NovoPolotsk's Arhip Morozov proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 67th minute of the match, managed to save NovoPolotsk from getting a goal against them. With a couple of smart ball manuevers Timofey Rekun in the 69th managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Arhip Morozov saved NovoPolotsk from getting behind. Bogdan Gagarin could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 70th minute of the match, but Arhip Morozov made a huge save. Arhip Morozov showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Timofey Rekun in the 71st minute of the match. 72 minutes into the match, Bogdan Gagarin notched a goal, 0-2, to the right of NovoPolotsk's Arhip Morozov. Arhip Morozov was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. A collision led to NovoPolotsk getting a freekick after 76 minutes play. Vadim Serada hit a great ball. Arhip Morozov made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Timofey Rekun in the 80th minute of play. In the 82nd minute, Ilia Revin ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Sergey Pivavarov was frozen by the shot and now it was 1-2. 92 minutes into the match, NovoPolotsk's goalkeeper Arhip Morozov had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Bogdan Gagarin. Arhip Morozov took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Aleksandr Naumovich, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. When the match was over Gomel could go home with a victory in their luggage, having controlled the game far better than NovoPolotsk throughout the match.