League

Merilä
Spectators: 7602 (Terracing: 5780, Seating: 1772, VIP seats: 50) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Ahti Sihvonen started the match with the kick off. 3 minutes into the game, Petri Vikström was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Merilä's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave EBK the free kick. When Petri Vikström came up free with the goalie in the 5th minute, the Merilä 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 Petri Vikström couldn't finish the play. Ahti Sihvonen sent away a hard shot on goal in the 6th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Veli Helin charged in rather forcefully in the 10th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Veli Helin the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. In the 17th minute, Juho Torkkeli hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Hemminki Hevonkorpi kicked well hit freekick during the 18th minute of the match. Petri Vikström received a nice pass, split the defenders, and ran untouched towards the goal. Esa Alin came out and tried to block the shot, but Petri Vikström slotted it home off the left post making it 1-0 in the 21st minute. After a rather tough play, EBK's Veli Helin got a free kick in the 30th minute. In the 33rd minute Merilä were awarded a corner. Antti Nyrhinen went to the cornerflag to take it. The corner led Merilä's Petri Vikström to fire away a dangerous shot which Esa Alin despite some difficulties managed to get hold on the ball. When the match had gone on for 43 minutes, Ahvo Huhtiniemi took a quick shot and it went in 2-0 without a chance for Esa Alin to make any attempt to save it. EBK's Esa Alin played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Ahti Sihvonen in the 46th minute of play. The away team players looked dejected as the walked off the pitch at half time. They had fought hard, but were still losing 2-0.

When Ahti Sihvonen came up free with the goalie in the 52nd minute, the Merilä 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 Ahti Sihvonen couldn't finish the play. Esa Alin showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Ahti Sihvonen in the 55th minute of the match. Petri Vikström fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 56th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Esa Alin having to interfere. Veli Helin received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 62nd minute. Anselmi Furuholm tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Petri Vikström fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 65th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Esa Alin having to interfere. In the 68th minute, Ahti Sihvonen 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. In the 77thth minute of the game Ahti Sihvonen who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but EBK's Esa Alin was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. 80 minutes into the game, Petri Vikström cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 3-0. Esa Alin was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. An unexpectedly hard shot by Petri Vikström in the 92nd minute of play forced EBK's goalkeeper Esa Alin to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Esa Alin took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Ahti Sihvonen, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side.