League Play-Off

Stadion Irkutsk
Spectators: 34 (Terracing: 26, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) The field was rather wet after several days of rain when Veniamin Gashkov took the kick off in the first half of the match. After 3 minutes of play, the referee blew the whistle. It was a penalty for Irkutsk! In the 4th minute there was a penalty for Shahty FC. Leonid Dovlatov stepped forward and shot the ball to the right of a diving Vyacheslav Prudkovskiy. 0-1. Vyacheslav Prudkovskiy took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Oleg Kuskov, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Artur Golubev received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 14th minute. Fedor Bobikov tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. The audience was convinced that Oleg Kuskov's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Vyacheslav Prudkovskiy was relentless in the 17th minute of the game. Vitaliy Prosvirischev kicked well hit freekick during the 18th minute of the match. After some fancy dribbling in the 19th minute, Mikhail Govyadin managed to get in a good position for a shot. Shahty FC's supporters rose to their feet, but Mikhail Govyadin was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Vyacheslav Prudkovskiy breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. The referee blew the whistle for a penalty in the 22nd minute of the game. One of Irkutsk:s players had nearly got his shirt torn off by an opponent while getting free in front of Shahty FC:s goal. Shahty FC's Fedor Bobikov played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Veniamin Gashkov in the 28th minute of play. In the 30th minute Mikhail Govyadin shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Vyacheslav Prudkovskiy saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Mikhail Govyadin fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 35th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Vyacheslav Prudkovskiy having to interfere. If Artur Golubev had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 36th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. After a rather tough play, Irkutsk's Dmitriy Plutalov got a free kick in the 40th minute. 1-1 became the score in the 44th minute when Artur Golubev elegantly shot the ball into goal just under the crossbar. 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 corner first didn't look so dangerous but when Vasiliy Ivanov got the ball he succeeded in some way to get through the defenders to deliver a very hard score. Result 1-2. 53 minutes into the match. Shahty FC's Fedor Bobikov played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Artur Golubev in the 57th minute of play. Fedor Bobikov took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Artur Golubev, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. With a little luck, Irkutsk's Vyacheslav Prudkovskiy got control of the ball when Mikhail Govyadin tried to sneak it across the goal line. After a defensive mix-up in Irkutsk's zone, Oleg Kuskov stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Vyacheslav Prudkovskiy came out of the goal and Oleg Kuskov tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Irkutsk's Arseniy Golovachev got his second yellow card of the match in the 81st minute. The referee ordered Arseniy Golovachev off the ground. After 82 played minutes Irkutsk got a freekick which was hit by Arseniy Golovachev. After a defensive mix-up in Shahty FC's zone, Artur Golubev stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Fedor Bobikov came out of the goal and Artur Golubev tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Arkhip Zamyatin kicked well hit freekick during the 88th minute of the match. Fedor Bobikov showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Artur Golubev in the 91st minute of the match. Oleg Kuskov recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 95th minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal.