League Play-Off

Stadion Samara
Spectators: 34 (Terracing: 26, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Gennadiy Krylov started the match with the kick off. Samara's Ernest Samutin played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Gennadiy Krylov in the 3rd minute of play. The referee was alert and spotted a serious foul by Gleb Beschastnyh during the 4th minute. The player immediately received a yellow card. 4 minutes into the game, one of Samara:s players got tackled near the goal, and the referee blew for a penalty. Andrey Sinyanskiy's shot was meant for the net just under the crossbar, but Danil Litovchenko read the situation well and was quickly in position to make a wonderful save in the 10th minute of play. Ernest Samutin showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Danil Arakelyan in the 14th minute of the match. With a couple of smart ball manuevers Gennadiy Krylov in the 16th managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Ernest Samutin saved Samara from getting behind. Grigoriy Sinitsin hit a great freekick 18 minutes into the match. In the 19th minute of the match Pavel Timofeev shot from a long distance. The ball could have gone into the goal to the right of the goalkeeper, but Ernest Samutin showed his good shape when he easily got hold of the ball. Grigoriy Sinitsin charged in rather forcefully in the 22nd minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Grigoriy Sinitsin the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. After 22 played minutes Samara got a freekick which was hit by Grigoriy Sinitsin. 24 minutes into the match, Balakovo HC's goal looked a bit too open when Anatoliy Miroshkin came free, but Danil Litovchenko reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. With a little luck, Balakovo HC's Danil Litovchenko got control of the ball when Andrey Sinyanskiy tried to sneak it across the goal line. Danil Litovchenko showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Anatoliy Miroshkin in the 30th minute of the match. Danil Litovchenko came out of the goal in the 35th minute to try and stop a shot by Samara's Anatoliy Miroshkin. But to his dismay, Anatoliy Miroshkin quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 1-0. Gleb Orzhevskiy received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 40th minute. Ernest Samutin tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Danil Litovchenko made an important save on a dangerous shot by Andrey Sinyanskiy in the 42nd minute. The supporters of Balakovo HC booed when Samara was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 44 match minutes in a wonderful position. Vladislav Ershov didn't get a good kick on the ball.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Anatoliy Miroshkin to make the kick off. Balakovo HC's Danil Arakelyan got a good chance for a goal in the 52nd minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. Anatoliy Miroshkin scored 2-1 in the 64th match minute with a shot that went into the goal to the right of Danil Litovchenko, who was just a little too slow in reacting to the shot. 68 minutes into the match, Samara's goal looked a bit too open when Gennadiy Krylov came free, but Ernest Samutin reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Anatoliy Miroshkin received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 77th minute. Danil Litovchenko tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Danil Litovchenko showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Mikhail Silin in the 81st minute of the match. An unexpectedly hard shot by Andrey Sinyanskiy in the 90th minute of play forced Balakovo HC's goalkeeper Danil Litovchenko to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Gennadiy Krylov sent away a hard shot on goal in the 94th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. The Samara support was delighted with a win in a match that could easily have ended differently.