League

RIGASTADIUM
Spectators: 8036 (Terracing: 6000, Seating: 1874, VIP seats: 162) Sporting Riga's Leopolds Pluksnis 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. Valdis Vaskops made in the 3rd minute of the game a throw-in that took a bad bounce and was taken care of by Sporting Riga's Ēvalds Sovkovs. 3 minutes into the game, Ēvalds Sovkovs was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Sporting Riga's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave FC Kurbads the free kick. A collision led to Sporting Riga getting a freekick after 3 minutes play. Ēvalds Sovkovs hit a great ball. Ilgvars Nilenders fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 5th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Ēriks Kiršblats having to interfere. Santis Dzelzgalvis received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 6th minute. Miķelis Strepmanis tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Varis Lavenbahs fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 9th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Miķelis Strepmanis having to interfere. 12 minutes into the match, Leopolds Pluksnis had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Miķelis Strepmanis. FC Kurbads's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Leopolds Pluksnis was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 1-0. Miķelis Strepmanis took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Leopolds Pluksnis, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. The throw-in from Valdis Vaskops in the 20th minute of the game was unfortunally taken care of by Sporting Riga's Ēvalds Sovkovs. In the 21st minute, Sporting Riga's Leopolds Pluksnis ran free of his marker and smoothly shot the ball into the goal behind Miķelis Strepmanis. Miķelis Strepmanis yelled at his defense, as they had left him out to dry. 2-0. A sloppy throw-in by Skaidris Leklērs in the 25th minute of the game went astray and was snapped up by Sporting Riga's Ēvalds Sovkovs. After a defensive mix-up in FC Kurbads's zone, Ēvalds Sovkovs stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Miķelis Strepmanis came out of the goal and Ēvalds Sovkovs tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. After a rather tough play, FC Kurbads's Gundars Vagulāns got a free kick in the 27th minute. An unexpectedly hard shot by Leopolds Pluksnis in the 28th minute of play forced FC Kurbads's goalkeeper Miķelis Strepmanis to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Miķelis Strepmanis made an important save on a dangerous shot by Leopolds Pluksnis in the 29th minute. Harijs Spiridovics fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 32nd minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Ēriks Kiršblats having to interfere. After having played for 34 minutes, Leopolds Pluksnis managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Sporting Riga's supporters crossed their fingers, but Leopolds Pluksnis was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. If Leopolds Pluksnis had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 37th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. With a little luck, FC Kurbads's Miķelis Strepmanis got control of the ball when Santis Dzelzgalvis tried to sneak it across the goal line. The audience was convinced that Leopolds Pluksnis's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Miķelis Strepmanis was relentless in the 41st minute of the game. Leopolds Pluksnis received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 42nd minute. Miķelis Strepmanis tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Toms Solcs fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 44th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Miķelis Strepmanis having to interfere.

Sporting Riga's Leopolds Pluksnis got a good chance for a goal in the 59th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. Gundars Vagulāns kicked well hit freekick during the 60th minute of the match. In the 65th match minute, FC Kurbads was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Zigurds Laurinovics to maneuver through the defense. When the match clock showed 67 minutes, the score became 3-0 when Leopolds Pluksnis sped through FC Kurbads's defense and sent away a curving shot that went into the net to the right of Miķelis Strepmanis. After having played for 75 minutes, Leopolds Pluksnis managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Sporting Riga's supporters crossed their fingers, but Leopolds Pluksnis was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. Miķelis Strepmanis took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Leopolds Pluksnis, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. The audience was convinced that Leopolds Pluksnis's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Miķelis Strepmanis was relentless in the 78th minute of the game. In the 80th minute Leopolds Pluksnis shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Miķelis Strepmanis saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. FC Kurbads's Gundars Vagulāns got his second yellow card of the match in the 82nd minute. The referee ordered Gundars Vagulāns off the ground. 86 minutes had been played when some careless play by Sporting Riga's defense caused the ball to cross the line for a corner. Valērijs Klapiņš was slow to take the kick. During this time FC Kurbads's players had a chance to rest. The corner ended in Valērijs Klapiņš almost managing to get the ball behind the net, but Sporting Riga's Ēriks Kiršblats did a great save. FC Kurbads's Miķelis Strepmanis played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Toms Solcs in the 88th minute of play. 93 minutes into the match, FC Kurbads's goal looked a bit too open when Santis Dzelzgalvis came free, but Miķelis Strepmanis reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. After some fancy dribbling in the 96th minute, Leopolds Pluksnis managed to get in a good position for a shot. Sporting Riga's supporters rose to their feet, but Leopolds Pluksnis was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Miķelis Strepmanis breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. It was no surprise that this one had ended in a win for the home team. Sporting Riga had played much better football throughout.