League Play-Off

Sterlitamak
Spectators: 35 (Terracing: 27, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) The sun was shining, the grass was green and the audience cheered when Potap Dyadkovskiy got the match started through his kick off. 3 minutes into the game, Igor Egorov cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 0-1. Andrey Shklovskiy was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. In the 7th minute of the match Konstantin Kostikov sent off a long shot with destination to the right of the goalkeeper, but Andrey Shklovskiy skillfully saved the ball. Igor Egorov received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 8th minute. Andrey Shklovskiy tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. In the 10th match minute, Ulyanovsk HC was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Arkadiy Nikishin to maneuver through the defense. Marat Sychev showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Aleksey Suvorov, who was totally free with the ball in the 12th minute. Igor Egorov received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 16th minute. Andrey Shklovskiy tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Igor Egorov sent away a hard shot on goal in the 22nd minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. David Dubov hit a great freekick 24 minutes into the match. 28 minutes into the match, Sterlitamak's goal looked a bit too open when Igor Egorov came free, but Andrey Shklovskiy reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. In the 28th match minute, Sterlitamak was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Igor Suvorov to maneuver through the defense. Andrey Shklovskiy made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Igor Egorov in the 33rd minute of play. Marat Sychev took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Aleksey Suvorov, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. In the 39th minute, Aleksey Suvorov 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 42nd minute, Potap Dyadkovskiy ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Andrey Shklovskiy was frozen by the shot and now it was 0-2. With his leg Marat Sychev managed to avoid a goal in the 46thth minute, when Sterlitamak's Ivan Strelkov fired away a shot with a lot of spin towards his right hand side. Luck had favoured the away team in the first, and they walked off with a 0-2 lead.

The players of the home team were most fresh-looking when they entered the field to play the second half. Aleksey Suvorov was the one to do the kick off. Igor Egorov scored 0-3 in the 55th match minute with a shot that went into the goal to the right of Andrey Shklovskiy, who was just a little too slow in reacting to the shot. The supporters of Sterlitamak booed when Ulyanovsk HC was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 61 match minutes in a wonderful position. David Dubov didn't get a good kick on the ball. If Ivan Strelkov had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 64th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Andrey Shklovskiy showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Potap Dyadkovskiy, who was totally free with the ball in the 67th minute. Igor Egorov was really disappointed when he shot the ball just outside the right post instead of scoring a goal in the 70th minute. Ulyanovsk HC's manager could be seen on the sidelines shaking his head and muttering to himself as his team had just wasted another chance. After a defensive mix-up in Sterlitamak's zone, Igor Egorov stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Andrey Shklovskiy came out of the goal and Igor Egorov tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Potap Dyadkovskiy received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 81st minute. Andrey Shklovskiy tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. After some fancy dribbling in the 84th minute, Potap Dyadkovskiy managed to get in a good position for a shot. Ulyanovsk HC's supporters rose to their feet, but Potap Dyadkovskiy was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Andrey Shklovskiy breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. After a defensive mix-up in Sterlitamak's zone, Igor Egorov stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Andrey Shklovskiy came out of the goal and Igor Egorov tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Ivan Strelkov fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 96th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Marat Sychev having to interfere. The Ulyanovsk HC players were relieved to hear the final whistle blow to end the match. The away crowd was happy to see their team win after a very tight game.