League Play-Off

Puhče
Spectators: 36 (Terracing: 28, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Januz Maksimov started the match with the kick off. After 5 played minutes Puhče got a freekick which was hit by Ardi Nevenovski. After recieving a nice pass, Valandovo Pobeda's Iljo Rajkov tried to score from far away in the 6th minute, but the ball went over the crossbar. After some fancy dribbling in the 8th minute, Nikanor Petan managed to get in a good position for a shot. Valandovo Pobeda's supporters rose to their feet, but Nikanor Petan was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Živko Gaši breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. The referee was alert and spotted a serious foul by Rajko Sazdanoski during the 11th minute. The player immediately received a yellow card. In the 10th minute, one of Puhče: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 Puhče. Nino Vasilev hit a great freekick 18 minutes into the match. 20 minutes into the match, Januz Maksimov notched a goal, 0-2, to the right of Puhče's Živko Gaši. Živko Gaši was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. After having played for 27 minutes, Januz Maksimov managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Valandovo Pobeda's supporters crossed their fingers, but Januz Maksimov was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. When the match clock showed 34 minutes, the score became 0-3 when Januz Maksimov sped through Puhče's defense and sent away a curving shot that went into the net to the right of Živko Gaši. Jakim Andreev did some fancy footwork in front of goal and succeeded to deceive the defenders so he could slam the ball in 1-3 to the left of a surprised Čedo Mihailovič 38 minutes into the match. Čedo Mihailovič made a fantastic save in the 43rd minute, when Jakim Andreev sent off a good shot on target.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Ognen Grozdanov to make the kick off. Valandovo Pobeda's Čedo Mihailovič played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Jakim Andreev in the 53rd minute of play. 57 minutes into the match, Valandovo Pobeda's Januz Maksimov sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Živko Gaši narrowly saved just below the crossbar. Ognen Grozdanov scored 2-3 in the 60th match minute with a shot that went into the goal to the right of Čedo Mihailovič, who was just a little too slow in reacting to the shot. In the 63rd match minute, Valandovo Pobeda was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Tritan Gerasimovski to maneuver through the defense. If Ognen Grozdanov had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 65th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. After a defensive mix-up in Puhče's zone, Januz Maksimov stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Živko Gaši came out of the goal and Januz Maksimov tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. 72 minutes into the match, Valandovo Pobeda's goal looked a bit too open when Ognen Grozdanov came free, but Čedo Mihailovič reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. In the 75th minute, Jakim Andreev 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. When Jakim Andreev came up free with the goalie in the 77th minute, the Puhče 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 Jakim Andreev couldn't finish the play. Jakim Andreev struck a weak shot in the 93rd minute. Čedo Mihailovič didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for Puhče. 96 minutes into the game, Puhče's Trajan Vikentijevski nearly tore a hole in the net with a booming shot. Čedo Mihailovič made a valiant effort, but he could not reach the ball in time, 3-3. Neither set of supporters seemed pleased with the draw, but both teams had played equally well today.