League Play-Off

Stadion Shahty
Spectators: 35 (Terracing: 27, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) Shahty FC's Serafim Buryak 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. A collision led to Shahty FC getting a freekick after 3 minutes play. Arkadiy Simeneev hit a great ball. Rustam Arhipov struck a weak shot in the 4th minute. Sergey Mormonenko didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for Zheleznodorozhny. Sergey Mormonenko showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Ruslan Pyatkin, who was totally free with the ball in the 6th minute. An unexpectedly hard shot by Serafim Buryak in the 12th minute of play forced Zheleznodorozhny's goalkeeper Boris Lukin to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Serafim Buryak who was well placed in front of the goal fired away a dangerous shot that in the 13thth minute tested the skills of Boris Lukin when he managed to save the team from getting behind. An unexpectedly hard shot by Ruslan Pyatkin in the 16th minute of play forced Shahty FC's goalkeeper Sergey Mormonenko to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Ruslan Pyatkin sent away a hard shot on goal in the 24th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Boris Lukin showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Serafim Buryak in the 26th minute of the match. Lev Belyanov recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 30th 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 Shahty FC getting a freekick after 35 minutes play. Yuriy Samoshin hit a great ball. In the 41st minute, Rustam Arhipov hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Vsevolod Petuhov, 42 minutes into the match, dribbled the ball up the side of the field and decided to take a long shot at the goal. Unfortunately, the ball was poorly hit and landed closer to the corner than to the goal. Danila Skorbovenko lost his temper 44 minutes into the game and shoved another player to the ground. He was immediately shown a red card. In the 43rd minute, one of Zheleznodorozhny:s players had the ball in front of the goal but got pushed and fell. The referee felt it was an obvious case and blew a penalty for Zheleznodorozhny. The score stood at 1-1 when the half time whistle went. Both sets of players seemed reasonably pleased with how the match was going.

The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when Matvey Balabuha stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. In the 54th minute Serafim Buryak shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Boris Lukin saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. After some fancy dribbling in the 56th minute, Lev Belyanov managed to get in a good position for a shot. Shahty FC's supporters rose to their feet, but Lev Belyanov was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Boris Lukin breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. Serafim Buryak recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 59th minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. In the 62nd minute of the match Yuliy Orlov shot from a long distance. The ball could have gone into the goal to the right of the goalkeeper, but Boris Lukin showed his good shape when he easily got hold of the ball. Boris Lukin showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Serafim Buryak, who was totally free with the ball in the 64th minute. After having played for 69 minutes, Matvey Balabuha managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Zheleznodorozhny's supporters crossed their fingers, but Matvey Balabuha was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. Matvey Balabuhas short, quick shot in the 70thth minute got Sergey Mormonenko to make great effort and bar the ball away from getting in. Filipp Abelev recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 73rd minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. Petr Fedun was really disappointed when he shot the ball just outside the right post instead of scoring a goal in the 75th minute. Zheleznodorozhny's manager could be seen on the sidelines shaking his head and muttering to himself as his team had just wasted another chance. After 79 minutes, Karl Muchkin mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Shahty FC and the Zheleznodorozhny players grew even worse after the yellow card. After 79 played minutes Shahty FC got a freekick which was hit by Karl Muchkin. Matvey Balabuha fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 88th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Sergey Mormonenko having to interfere. If Matvey Balabuha had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 90th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. The referee was alert and spotted a serious foul by Mikhail Bekselyaev during the 92nd minute. The player immediately received a yellow card. In the 96th minute Lev Belyanov shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Boris Lukin saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. The Zheleznodorozhny players were the happier at the end of the match as they had prevented Shahty FC from taking control. The game ends in a draw.