League Play-Off

Stadion Smolensk
Spectators: 35 (Terracing: 27, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) Smolensk's Nikolay Beznikin 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. An unexpectedly hard shot by Nil Ustinov in the 6th minute of play forced Smolensk's goalkeeper Klim Nazarov to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Adrian Shumikhin sent away a hard shot on goal in the 9th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Klim Nazarov took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Adrian Shumikhin, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. After a rather tough play, Smolensk's Lev Safonov got a free kick in the 16th minute. Lev Safonov hit a great freekick 19 minutes into the match. Vladislav Afanasenko was probably a little too eager to shoot when he, in the 20th played minute, shot the ball from way out. The shot was hard, but the ball flew wide of the goal. Nikolay Beznikin fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 23rd minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Boris Efimov having to interfere. The audience was convinced that Nikolay Beznikin's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Boris Efimov was relentless in the 25th minute of the game. The referee was alert and spotted a serious foul by Timur Alchevskiy during the 27th minute. The player immediately received a yellow card. A collision led to Astrakhan getting a freekick after 27 minutes play. Timur Alchevskiy hit a great ball. After recieving a nice pass, Smolensk's Danil Gordeev tried to score from far away in the 28th minute, but the ball went over the crossbar. Smolensk's Klim Nazarov played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Nil Ustinov in the 30th minute of play. A collision led to Astrakhan getting a freekick after 34 minutes play. Timur Alchevskiy hit a great ball. Arkadiy Sysoev who was well placed in front of the goal fired away a dangerous shot that in the 37thth minute tested the skills of Boris Efimov when he managed to save the team from getting behind. Efim Gavrilov hit a great freekick 39 minutes into the match. Klim Nazarov showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Nil Ustinov in the 42nd minute of the match. When Nikolay Beznikin came up free with the goalie in the 44th minute, the Smolensk 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 Nikolay Beznikin couldn't finish the play. 47 minutes into the match, Astrakhan's goalkeeper Boris Efimov had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Arkadiy Sysoev. Sergey Dobrovolskiy sent away a hard shot on goal in the 48th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance.

Boris Efimov showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Arkadiy Sysoev in the 54th minute of the match. David Sidelnikov charged in rather forcefully in the 55th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed David Sidelnikov the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. In the 55th minute, David Sidelnikov hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. The audience was convinced that Adrian Shumikhin's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Klim Nazarov was relentless in the 62nd minute of the game. Mikhail Konogorov's late challenge caught a Astrakhan's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Mikhail Konogorov helped the player get up and apologised. The supporters of Astrakhan booed when Smolensk was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 65 match minutes in a wonderful position. Mikhail Konogorov didn't get a good kick on the ball. Klim Nazarov made a fantastic save in the 68th minute, when Nil Ustinov sent off a good shot on target. Astrakhan's Boris Efimov played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Nikolay Beznikin in the 78th minute of play. Nikolay Beznikin sent away a hard shot on goal in the 80th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Astrakhan's Boris Efimov played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Nikolay Beznikin in the 82nd minute of play. Nil Ustinov took the ball and in the 86 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised Klim Nazarov. Klim Nazarov dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 0-1. 91 minutes into the match, Smolensk's goal looked a bit too open when Adrian Shumikhin came free, but Klim Nazarov reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. After having played for 92 minutes, Adrian Shumikhin managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Astrakhan's supporters crossed their fingers, but Adrian Shumikhin was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. An unexpectedly hard shot by Adrian Shumikhin in the 97th minute of play forced Smolensk's goalkeeper Klim Nazarov to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. The away crowd were delighted with the way their team had played and cheered loudly when the final whistle sounded. Astrakhan walked away with the win, even though the match was close until the end.