League

Kronoby
Spectators: 6770 (Terracing: 5000, Seating: 1770, VIP seats: 0) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Pertti Salmela started the match with the kick off. If Kaleva Luhtio had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 9th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. In the 11th minute, Pertti Salmela 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. Koivunkylä IFK's Nikolai Numminen played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Jimi Rantamäki in the 13th minute of play. When Pertti Salmela fell near the penalty area in the 16th minute he thought he would be awarded a free kick. The referee ignored Koivunkylä IFK's protests and gave Pertti Salmela a yellow card for diving instead. After 16 played minutes Koivunkylä IFK got a freekick which was hit by Pertti Salmela. Nikolai Numminen made an important save on a dangerous shot by Risto Mäki in the 17th minute. Koivunkylä IFK's Nikolai Numminen proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 24th minute of the match, managed to save Koivunkylä IFK from getting a goal against them. A collision led to Kronoby getting a freekick after 27 minutes play. Touko Sinkkonen hit a great ball. After 29 played minutes, Koivunkylä IFK's Ahti Kurri shot from a long distance, and at first it looked like the ball was going into the goal, but the goalkeeper Risto Hotakainen came through and got his fingers on the ball before it flew over the goal line. He then quickly gripped the ball tighter before the forwards in Koivunkylä IFK reached it. Pertti Salmela might have been able to make a better finish in the 33rd minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Risto Hotakainen. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Pertti Salmela ran back to his position shaking his head. Pertti Salmela fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 36th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Risto Hotakainen having to interfere. Koivunkylä IFK's Nikolai Numminen played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Jimi Rantamäki in the 40th minute of play. Risto Mäki fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 42nd minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Nikolai Numminen having to interfere. The away team players looked dejected as the walked off the pitch at half time. They had fought hard, but were still losing 1-0.

The players of the home team were most fresh-looking when they entered the field to play the second half. Jimi Rantamäki was the one to do the kick off. Risto Hotakainen showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Pertti Salmela in the 56th minute of the match. An unexpectedly hard shot by Jimi Rantamäki in the 58th minute of play forced Koivunkylä IFK's goalkeeper Nikolai Numminen to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. 67 minutes into the game, Risto Mäki cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 2-0. Nikolai Numminen was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. With a little luck, Kronoby's Risto Hotakainen got control of the ball when Voitto Hagelberg tried to sneak it across the goal line. 78 minutes into the match, Kaleva Luhtio had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Risto Hotakainen. Kronoby's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Kaleva Luhtio was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 2-1. The audience was convinced that Pertti Salmela's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Risto Hotakainen was relentless in the 82nd minute of the game. Koivunkylä IFK's Kaleva Luhtio got a good chance for a goal in the 86th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. The audience thought a goal was coming when Kaleva Luhtio got free with Risto Hotakainen in the 88th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. Risto Mäki recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 90th minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. Nikolai Numminen made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Risto Mäki in the 92nd minute of play. Pertti Salmela received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 93rd minute. Risto Hotakainen tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. An unexpectedly hard shot by Samuel Vapaniemi in the 96th minute of play forced Kronoby's goalkeeper Risto Hotakainen to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Kronoby were really happy, having secured the victory after a very even contest. They thanked the players of Koivunkylä IFK for a fine match.