League Play-Off

Stadion Murmansk
Spectators: 35 (Terracing: 27, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) The field was rather wet after several days of rain when Albert Kamov took the kick off in the first half of the match. Arseniy Emelyanov received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 7th minute. German Kusraev tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Mikhail Sharov in the 11thth minute had a little luck and got a chance for a shot in front of the goal. Without hesitation aimed to the right of Alfred Medvedev, who managed to lunge to the right direction and made a save. Alfred Medvedev stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Arkadiy Levin's shot from short distance in the 13th minute. Murmansk's Ruslan Mezenin shoveled away a really nice long shot in the 14th minute of play. The shot was stopped by Alfred Medvedev but with some difficulty. When Arkadiy Levin came up free with the goalie in the 16th minute, the Murmansk 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 Arkadiy Levin couldn't finish the play. Arkadiy Levin struck a weak shot in the 18th minute. Alfred Medvedev didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for Murmansk. When the match had been going on for 22 minutes, Murmansk's Vladimir Schekaturov got an opportunity to shoot a penalty. He stayed cool and waited for the goalkeeper to move, before he confidently shot the ball into the goal, to the left of Alfred Medvedev. Arkadiy Levin hit a great freekick 25 minutes into the match. Egor Novikov charged in rather forcefully in the 27th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Egor Novikov the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. Mikhail Sharov sent away a hard shot on goal in the 32nd minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Igor Shastik kicked well hit freekick during the 37th minute of the match. Arkadiy Levin sent away a hard shot on goal in the 38th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Valeriy Ponomarev kicked well hit freekick during the 39th minute of the match. The away team players looked dejected as the walked off the pitch at half time. They had fought hard, but were still losing 1-0.

When the second half was about to start, both teams quickly lined up and Arkadiy Levin made a kick off. Velikiy Novgorod's Alfred Medvedev played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Arkadiy Levin in the 53rd minute of play. 55 minutes into the match, Arkadiy Levin had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Alfred Medvedev. Velikiy Novgorod's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Arkadiy Levin was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 2-0. Velikiy Novgorod's Alfred Medvedev played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Arkadiy Levin in the 58th minute of play. Velikiy Novgorod's Arseniy Emelyanov got a good chance for a goal in the 60th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. Arseniy Emelyanov sent away a hard shot on goal in the 61st minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. With a couple of smart ball manuevers Mikhail Sharov in the 67th managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Alfred Medvedev saved Velikiy Novgorod from getting behind. Mikhail Sharov received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 71st minute. Alfred Medvedev tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. In the 76th minute, Denis Pakhomov hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Mikhail Sharov fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 79th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Alfred Medvedev having to interfere. Denis Pakhomov's late challenge caught a Murmansk's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Denis Pakhomov helped the player get up and apologised. Alfred Medvedev took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Mikhail Sharov, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Arseniy Emelyanov who was well placed in front of the goal fired away a dangerous shot that in the 88thth minute tested the skills of German Kusraev when he managed to save the team from getting behind. In the 90thth minute of the game Mikhail Sharov who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but Velikiy Novgorod's Alfred Medvedev was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. Stepan Redrikov charged in rather forcefully in the 92nd minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Stepan Redrikov the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. The crowd rose to their feet and cheered when the referee blew the final whistle. Murmansk had won after a very even match.