League Play-Off

Stadion Saint Peters
Spectators: 34 (Terracing: 26, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) The mood of the audience was pleasant when Sergey Kryuchkov made the kick off which started today's match. The supporters of Saint Petersburg FC booed when Birobidzhan HC was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 10 match minutes in a wonderful position. Oleg Gasymov didn't get a good kick on the ball. The referee was alert and spotted a serious foul by Vladimir Grebennikov during the 11th minute. The player immediately received a yellow card. A collision led to Birobidzhan HC getting a freekick after 11 minutes play. Vladimir Grebennikov hit a great ball. After recieving a nice pass, Saint Petersburg FC's Aleksey Dyakov tried to score from far away in the 12th minute, but the ball went over the crossbar. In the 16th match minute, Birobidzhan HC was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Oleg Gasymov to maneuver through the defense. After 18 minutes, Oleg Gasymov mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Birobidzhan HC and the Saint Petersburg FC players grew even worse after the yellow card. After a rather tough play, Birobidzhan HC's Oleg Gasymov got a free kick in the 18th minute. Dmitriy Topolskiy showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Vitaliy Kochinov in the 25th minute of the match. After some fancy dribbling in the 27th minute, Sergey Kryuchkov managed to get in a good position for a shot. Birobidzhan HC's supporters rose to their feet, but Sergey Kryuchkov was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Dmitriy Topolskiy breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. 30 minutes into the game, Andrey Filippov was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Saint Petersburg FC's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave Birobidzhan HC the free kick. In the 30th match minute, Saint Petersburg FC was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Andrey Filippov to maneuver through the defense. Sergey Kryuchkov sent away a hard shot on goal in the 35th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. An unexpectedly hard shot by Sergey Kryuchkov in the 40th minute of play forced Saint Petersburg FC's goalkeeper Dmitriy Topolskiy to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Konstantin Katunin received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 41st minute. Roman Lobyrin tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Roman Lobyrin made an important save on a dangerous shot by Miroslav Polyakov in the 43rd minute. When Konstantin Katunin came up free with the goalie in the 48th minute, the Saint Petersburg 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 Konstantin Katunin couldn't finish the play.

The players of the home team were most fresh-looking when they entered the field to play the second half. Konstantin Katunin was the one to do the kick off. 55 minutes into the match, Saint Petersburg FC's goal looked a bit too open when Sergey Kryuchkov came free, but Dmitriy Topolskiy reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. After 55 minutes, Vsevolod Burdenko mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Saint Petersburg FC and the Birobidzhan HC players grew even worse after the yellow card. 59 minutes into the game, Vitaliy Kochinov lined in a short shot 0-1 behind a frustrated Dmitriy Topolskiy. If Konstantin Katunin had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 67th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Miroslav Polyakov recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 68th minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. Konstantin Katunin received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 70th minute. Roman Lobyrin tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Vitaliy Kochinov sent away a hard shot on goal in the 76th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. In the 77th minute, Denis Dovlatov hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. After 79 minutes, Ruslan Plutalov mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Birobidzhan HC and the Saint Petersburg FC players grew even worse after the yellow card. After 79 played minutes Birobidzhan HC got a freekick which was hit by Ruslan Plutalov. In the 83rd minute Konstantin Katunin shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Roman Lobyrin saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. 87 minutes into the game, one of Saint Petersburg FC:s players got tackled near the goal, and the referee blew for a penalty. The referee gave Birobidzhan HC a penalty, 89 minutes into the game. The penalty shot was made by Denis Dovlatov, who made a well placed shot into the net to the right of Saint Petersburg FC's Dmitriy Topolskiy. 0-2. If Vitaliy Kochinov had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 95th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Saint Petersburg FC's Konstantin Katunin got a good chance for a goal in the 97th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. Birobidzhan HC's supporters were very happy and cheered loudly because their team had won after a very close match.