League Play-Off

Nazran
Spectators: 34 (Terracing: 26, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk's Aleksey Podkuiko started the match with a crisp pass. The crowd had been anticipating this game for weeks and the excitement in the stadium was easily visible. After 8 played minutes Nazran FC got a freekick which was hit by Boris Sharov. In the 9th minute, Albert Rakhmetov 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. Boris Sharov's late challenge caught a Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Boris Sharov helped the player get up and apologised. After 10 played minutes Nazran FC got a freekick which was hit by Boris Sharov. Innokentiy Irinarhov took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Gennadiy Brusnikin, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Petr Panov received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 17th minute. Innokentiy Irinarhov tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. After some fancy dribbling in the 19th minute, Gennadiy Brusnikin managed to get in a good position for a shot. Nazran FC's supporters rose to their feet, but Gennadiy Brusnikin was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Innokentiy Irinarhov breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. The audience thought a goal was coming when Petr Panov got free with Innokentiy Irinarhov in the 21st minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. A collision led to Nazran FC getting a freekick after 22 minutes play. Gennadiy Brusnikin hit a great ball. Sergey Rozhkov showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Aleksey Podkuiko, who was totally free with the ball in the 24th minute. 26 minutes into the game, Albert Rakhmetov cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 0-1. Sergey Rozhkov was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. The Nazran FC players were disheartened as they walked off the pitch after the first half. Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk were winning 0-1.

The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when Gennadiy Brusnikin stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. Aleksey Podkuiko blasted a shot towards the goal in the 51st minute, but the shot hit the top of the crossbar and went out without Sergey Rozhkov having to make a save. In the 55th minute, Prokl Sirotkin ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Innokentiy Irinarhov was frozen by the shot and now it was 1-1. Nazran FC's Gennadiy Brusnikin got a good chance for a goal in the 67th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. The audience was convinced that Petr Panov's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Innokentiy Irinarhov was relentless in the 78th minute of the game. Prokl Sirotkin hit a great freekick 89 minutes into the match. Chants of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk echoed around the stadium as the match drew to a close. Supporters and players were both delighted with the win, as Nazran FC had held the ball for most of the match.