League Play-Off

Stadion Nizhny Novgo
Spectators: 35 (Terracing: 27, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) The field was rather wet after several days of rain when Boris Kapustin took the kick off in the first half of the match. Grigoriy Karponosov received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 3rd minute. Petr Koshelev tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Pavel Dorofeev might have been able to make a better finish in the 16th minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Rustam Mishin. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Pavel Dorofeev ran back to his position shaking his head. With his leg Rustam Mishin managed to avoid a goal in the 18thth minute, when Nizhny Novgorod FC's Pavel Dorofeev fired away a shot with a lot of spin towards his right hand side. In the 21st minute of the match, Pavel Dorofeev got a very nice opportunity to score, but Rustam Mishin was well-placed and pushed the ball away from the goal at the left post. Petr Koshelev made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Petr Shatilov in the 28th minute of play. After a rather tough play, Nizhny Novgorod FC's Ruslan Plakhotskiy got a free kick in the 31st minute. 35 minutes into the match, Grigoriy Karponosov had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Petr Koshelev. Nizhny Novgorod FC's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Grigoriy Karponosov was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 0-1. In the 44th minute of the match Vasiliy Stupin sent off a long shot with destination to the right of the goalkeeper, but Petr Koshelev skillfully saved the ball. Boris Kapustin sent away a hard shot on goal in the 45th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Rustam Mishin made an important save on a dangerous shot by Pavel Dorofeev in the 47th minute. Disappointed in the 0-1 score, the home team went to the dressing room to adjust tactics for the second half.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Grigoriy Karponosov to make the kick off. When Petr Shatilov came up free with the goalie in the 53rd minute, the Syzran HC 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 Petr Shatilov couldn't finish the play. In the 58th minute, Petr Shatilov hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. When Sergey Pashin fell near the penalty area in the 60th minute he thought he would be awarded a free kick. The referee ignored Nizhny Novgorod FC's protests and gave Sergey Pashin a yellow card for diving instead. In the 60th minute, Sergey Pashin hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. During the 62nd minute of the match Sergey Pashin completely mistimed his tackle and brought down his opponent. The referee gave Sergey Pashin a yellow card, his second in the match, which meant he could no longer take part in the game. Sergey Pashin kicked well hit freekick during the 64th minute of the match. In the 66th minute Pavel Dorofeev shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Rustam Mishin saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Grigoriy Karponosov kicked well hit freekick during the 68th minute of the match. Sergey Chadov's late challenge caught a Nizhny Novgorod FC's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Sergey Chadov helped the player get up and apologised. 69 minutes into the game, one of Syzran HC:s players got tackled near the goal, and the referee blew for a penalty. The referee gave Nizhny Novgorod FC a penalty, 72 minutes into the game. The penalty shot was made by Aleksey Abuzov, who made a well placed shot into the net to the right of Syzran HC's Rustam Mishin. 1-1. A hard shot by Nikolay Kuchmezov from long distance, 79 minutes into the match, got Petr Koshelev's attention. Through a fast twist with his body, he could stop the ball from going in on his right side. The supporters of Nizhny Novgorod FC booed when Syzran HC was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 82 match minutes in a wonderful position. Vasiliy Stupin didn't get a good kick on the ball. 90 minutes into the match, Syzran HC's goal looked a bit too open when Pavel Dorofeev came free, but Rustam Mishin reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Pavel Dorofeev struck a weak shot in the 96th minute. Rustam Mishin didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for Nizhny Novgorod FC. In the 98th match minute, Syzran HC was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Grigoriy Karponosov to maneuver through the defense. Nizhny Novgorod FC's supporters were highly satisfied with the result. They cheered their team of the pitch, having watched them win a very even match.