League Play-Off

Grozny
Spectators: 36 (Terracing: 28, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) It was fairly windy and cold on the field when Igor Bragin kicked off to start the match. A collision led to Kirov getting a freekick after 2 minutes play. Mikhail Kurnev hit a great ball. An unexpectedly hard shot by Igor Bragin in the 3rd minute of play forced Kirov's goalkeeper Stepan Inzhutov to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. When Denis Belyavskiy came up free with the goalie in the 4th minute, the Kirov 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 Denis Belyavskiy couldn't finish the play. In the 8th minute, Mark Vronskiy hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. When Kirov's Denis Belyavskiy in the 11th minute got a chance for a shot 11th didn't hesitate and placed the ball to the right of the goalie. A beautiful save bye Grozny FC's goalie prevented a goal. Konstantin Suhinov showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Innokentiy Yakunin in the 12th minute of the match. After some fancy dribbling in the 14th minute, Igor Bragin managed to get in a good position for a shot. Grozny FC's supporters rose to their feet, but Igor Bragin was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Stepan Inzhutov breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. After having played for 16 minutes, Zinoviy Isakov managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Grozny FC's supporters crossed their fingers, but Zinoviy Isakov was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. Zinoviy Isakov recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 18th minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. Stepan Inzhutov made a fantastic save in the 21st minute, when Zinoviy Isakov sent off a good shot on target. A nice corner shot did that Semen Dmitriev got away a dangerous shot. Despite this Stepan Inzhutov quite easily got ahold of the ball to make the save. Igor Bragin 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. The audience was convinced that Denis Belyavskiy's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Konstantin Suhinov was relentless in the 30th minute of the game. Konstantin Suhinov showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Denis Belyavskiy, who was totally free with the ball in the 35th minute. An unexpectedly hard shot by Innokentiy Yakunin in the 38th minute of play forced Grozny FC's goalkeeper Konstantin Suhinov to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. After the first half the score was level. The break gave the players a chance to catch their breath, whilst the managers went over the tactics with them again.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Denis Belyavskiy to make the kick off. The supporters of Kirov booed when Grozny FC was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 51 match minutes in a wonderful position. Semen Dmitriev didn't get a good kick on the ball. When Kirov's Denis Belyavskiy in the 59th minute got a chance for a shot 59th didn't hesitate and placed the ball to the right of the goalie. A beautiful save bye Grozny FC's goalie prevented a goal. Svyatoslav Lyadov charged in rather forcefully in the 61st minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Svyatoslav Lyadov the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. In the 61st match minute, Kirov was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Svyatoslav Lyadov to maneuver through the defense. When Mark Bortkevich fell near the penalty area in the 65th minute he thought he would be awarded a free kick. The referee ignored Kirov's protests and gave Mark Bortkevich a yellow card for diving instead. Zinoviy Isakov struck a weak shot in the 67th minute. Stepan Inzhutov didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for Grozny FC. After some careless play in the Kirov defense, Igor Bragin kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Stepan Inzhutov. The Kirov fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Stepan Inzhutov should have stopped the shot. After 72 minutes, Nikolay Soloviev mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Kirov and the Grozny FC players grew even worse after the yellow card. After a rather tough play, Kirov's Nikolay Soloviev got a free kick in the 72nd minute. Stepan Inzhutov took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Zinoviy Isakov, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. If Zinoviy Isakov had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 78th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Igor Bragin fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 79th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Stepan Inzhutov having to interfere. In the 86th minute, Zinoviy Isakov left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Grozny FC fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 2-0. There was no doubt that Grozny FC were the better team. Grozny FC's players enjoyed the ovations of the crowd after the victory.