League Play-Off

Novotroitsk
Spectators: 35 (Terracing: 27, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) Emmanuil Legostaev made the kick off and thus started the match. Denis Kurbatkin charged in rather forcefully in the 6th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Denis Kurbatkin the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. In the 5th minute, one of Novotroitsk FC: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 Novotroitsk FC. In the 7th minute there was a penalty for Smolensk. Veniamin Agranovskiy stepped forward and shot the ball to the right of a diving Rudolf Malafeev. 0-1. 12 minutes into the game, Zinoviy Noskov was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Smolensk's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave Novotroitsk FC the free kick. The supporters of Novotroitsk FC booed when Smolensk was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 13 match minutes in a wonderful position. Zinoviy Noskov didn't get a good kick on the ball. Roman Gabaev charged in rather forcefully in the 15th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Roman Gabaev the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. Roman Gabaev kicked well hit freekick during the 15th minute of the match. 18 minutes into the game, Sergey Konstantinov cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 0-2. Rudolf Malafeev was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. In the 22nd minute, one of Smolensk: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 Smolensk. The goalkeeper, Ivan Vekshin, was totally fooled by Novotroitsk FC's Denis Kurbatkin, who 24 minutes into the game made a penalty shot that went in on the goalkeeper's left side. When Artur Evsikov came up free with the goalie in the 27th minute, the Novotroitsk FC 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 Artur Evsikov couldn't finish the play. Valeriy Lihachev sent away a hard shot on goal in the 28th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Zinoviy Noskov got his second yellow card in the match during the 29th minute which meant that he had to leave the ground. In the 30th minute, Zinoviy Noskov hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Rudolf Malafeev showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Sergey Konstantinov, who was totally free with the ball in the 35th minute. Sergey Konstantinov sent away a hard shot on goal in the 39th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. After the first half Smolensk were leading 1-2. They had played with great self confidence throughout the first half and fully deserved their lead.

If Valentin Sugorskiy had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 54th minute. The ball went over the crossbar instead. Sergey Konstantinov received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 57th minute. Rudolf Malafeev tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. After a defensive mix-up in Novotroitsk FC's zone, Emmanuil Legostaev stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Rudolf Malafeev came out of the goal and Emmanuil Legostaev tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Valeriy Lihachev might have been able to make a better finish in the 63rd minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Ivan Vekshin. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Valeriy Lihachev ran back to his position shaking his head. After a rather tough play, Novotroitsk FC's Roman Gabaev got a free kick in the 67th minute. After 71 played minutes Smolensk got a freekick which was hit by Valentin Sugorskiy. Denis Kurbatkin, 72 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. Sergey Konstantinov could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 76th minute of the match, but Rudolf Malafeev made a huge save. An unexpectedly hard shot by Valeriy Lihachev in the 78th minute of play forced Smolensk's goalkeeper Ivan Vekshin to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. A collision led to Novotroitsk FC getting a freekick after 84 minutes play. Roman Gabaev hit a great ball. Sergey Konstantinov received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 88th minute. Rudolf Malafeev tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. The Novotroitsk FC fans had already started to leave before the final whistle blew. Smolensk were clearly better and deserved to take the win.