League Play-Off

Nalchik
Spectators: 34 (Terracing: 26, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) Vladimir Kuznetsov started the match with the kick off in front of an excited audience. A collision led to Novokuznetsk getting a freekick after 2 minutes play. Rudolf Andreev hit a great ball. An unexpectedly hard shot by Gennadiy Golovatyuk in the 7th minute of play forced Nalchik's goalkeeper Timofey Mirnev to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Timofey Mirnev made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Georgiy Leonov in the 9th minute of play. In the 9th match minute, Nalchik was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Nikita Harzhevskiy to maneuver through the defense. After 12 minutes, Ruslan Shtyrkin mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Novokuznetsk and the Nalchik players grew even worse after the yellow card. In the 12th minute, Ruslan Shtyrkin hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. 16 minutes into the game, Gennadiy Golovatyuk cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 0-1. Timofey Mirnev was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. Timofey Mirnev showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Georgiy Leonov, who was totally free with the ball in the 19th minute. In the 21st minute, one of Novokuznetsk: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 Novokuznetsk. The referee gave Nalchik a penalty, 22 minutes into the game. The penalty shot was made by Nikita Dehtyarenko, who made a well placed shot into the net to the right of Novokuznetsk's Aleksey Alferov. 1-1. Aleksey Alferov showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Vladimir Kuznetsov in the 26th minute of the match. Luka Zhuravlev fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 27th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Aleksey Alferov having to interfere. Georgiy Leonov fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 30th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Timofey Mirnev having to interfere. Vladimir Kuznetsov's shot was meant for the net just under the crossbar, but Aleksey Alferov read the situation well and was quickly in position to make a wonderful save in the 32nd minute of play. Vladimir Kuznetsov might have been able to make a better finish in the 36th minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Aleksey Alferov. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Vladimir Kuznetsov ran back to his position shaking his head. Ruslan Shtyrkin was shown his second yellow card after 41 minutes, following a rather ugly tackle on opponent. That was the end of his participation in the match. After a rather tough play, Novokuznetsk's Ruslan Shtyrkin got a free kick in the 41st minute. In the 43rdth minute of the game Vladimir Kuznetsov who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but Novokuznetsk's Aleksey Alferov was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. In the 48th match minute, Novokuznetsk was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Gennadiy Golovatyuk to maneuver through the defense. After the first half the score was level. The break gave the players a chance to catch their breath, whilst the managers went over the tactics with them again.

The wind increased when Gennadiy Golovatyuk made the kick off in the second half. If Vladimir Kuznetsov had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 54th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Aleksey Alferov showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Vladimir Kuznetsov in the 58th minute of the match. After 62 played minutes Novokuznetsk got a freekick which was hit by Georgiy Leonov. Nikita Dehtyarenko took a chance and fired a shot far from the goal in the 62nd minute, but it turned out to be a dangerous situation for Aleksey Alferov. Novokuznetsk's goalkeeper really had to stretch himself to stop the ball from crossing the goal line. After a rather tough play, Nalchik's Nikita Harzhevskiy got a free kick in the 67th minute. Timofey Mirnev made a fantastic save in the 69th minute, when Gennadiy Golovatyuk sent off a good shot on target. Gennadiy Golovatyuk received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 72nd minute. Timofey Mirnev tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Vladimir Kuznetsov received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 77th minute. Aleksey Alferov tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Aleksey Alferov made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Vladimir Kuznetsov in the 79th minute of play. In the 87th minute, Gennadiy Golovatyuk got an opportunity to score, but he didn't get a solid hit on the ball and ended up kicking it wide of the goal. In the 89th minute, Zinoviy Bulavka got an opportunity to score, but he didn't get a solid hit on the ball and ended up kicking it wide of the goal. Gennadiy Golovatyuk fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 93rd minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Timofey Mirnev having to interfere. In the 96th minute Luka Zhuravlev shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Aleksey Alferov saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Jeers came from both ends of the stadium when the final whistle went. Neither team had looked impressive and the draw seeemd a fair result.