League Play-Off

Stadion Rostov-on-Do
Spectators: 35 (Terracing: 27, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) Timur Bobylev started the match with the kick off in front of an excited audience. After 3 minutes, Afanasiy Gachegov mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Rostov-on-Don HC and the Khabarovsk FC players grew even worse after the yellow card. In the 3rd match minute, Rostov-on-Don HC was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Afanasiy Gachegov to maneuver through the defense. An unexpectedly hard shot by Vladislav Melehov in the 14th minute of play forced Rostov-on-Don HC's goalkeeper Igor Deniev to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Igor Deniev showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Boris Horoshunov in the 19th minute of the match. If Vladislav Melehov had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 21st minute. The ball went over the crossbar instead. The audience thought a goal was coming when Timur Bobylev got free with Sergey Eliseev in the 24th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. 26 minutes into the match, Rostov-on-Don HC's Pavel Ermolinskiy sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Sergey Eliseev narrowly saved just below the crossbar. 28 minutes into the match, Rostov-on-Don HC's goal looked a bit too open when Vladislav Melehov came free, but Igor Deniev reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. If Timur Bobylev had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 31st minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. 33 minutes into the match, Khabarovsk FC's goal looked a bit too open when Timur Bobylev came free, but Sergey Eliseev reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Pavel Ermolinskiy received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 34th minute. Sergey Eliseev tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Vitold Ruzhnikov kicked well hit freekick during the 36th minute of the match. In the 37th minute Timur Bobylev shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Sergey Eliseev saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. After a defensive mix-up in Khabarovsk FC's zone, Pavel Ermolinskiy stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Sergey Eliseev came out of the goal and Pavel Ermolinskiy tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Timur Bobylev received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 43rd minute. Sergey Eliseev tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Sergey Eliseev made a fantastic save in the 45th minute, when Pavel Ermolinskiy sent off a good shot on target. Pavel Ermolinskiy's shot straight on target was not completely harmless. The ball had pretty good speed, but Sergey Eliseev firmly grabbed it by the left post. After a defensive mix-up in Khabarovsk FC's zone, Pavel Ermolinskiy stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Sergey Eliseev came out of the goal and Pavel Ermolinskiy tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. The first half was very even, with the score at 0-0 when the whistle went for half-time. The players welcomed the break and quickly retired to the dressing rooms.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Vladislav Melehov to make the kick off. In the 53rd minute, Danila Stam hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. When Boris Horoshunov came up free with the goalie in the 54th minute, the Khabarovsk FC 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 Boris Horoshunov couldn't finish the play. In the 60th minute the ball was on its way in behind Rostov-on-Don HC's goalkeeper Igor Deniev, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. In the 64th match minute, Rostov-on-Don HC was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Emil Esipov to maneuver through the defense. If Pavel Ermolinskiy had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 67th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. In the 72nd minute, Boris Horoshunov 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. After some fancy dribbling in the 74th minute, Vladislav Melehov managed to get in a good position for a shot. Khabarovsk FC's supporters rose to their feet, but Vladislav Melehov was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Igor Deniev breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. 77 minutes into the game, Boris Horoshunov recieved a splendid long ball, split the defenders, and gently placed the ball to the left of Igor Deniev. Boris Horoshunov showed that you don't have to tear a hole in the net to score, 0-2. If Timur Bobylev had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 83rd minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. In the 89th minute the ball was on its way in behind Rostov-on-Don HC's goalkeeper Igor Deniev, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. Vladislav Melehov sent away a hard shot on goal in the 90th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Vladislav Melehov received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 96th minute. Igor Deniev tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. The Khabarovsk FC supporters could be heard counting down the last seconds of the match. They errupted in celebration when the whistle blew, knowing Khabarovsk FC would go home with victory in their luggage after a match that easily could have ended differently.