League

АРЕНА ТАЙГА
Spectators: 5000 (Terracing: 4000, Seating: 1000, VIP seats: 0) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Anatoliy Basalaev started the match with the kick off. Egor Kovtun fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 4th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Leonid Kazachenok having to interfere. In the 6th minute Egor Kovtun shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Leonid Kazachenok saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Maksim Plaksin fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 11th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Leonid Kazachenok having to interfere. Dmitriy Finogenov hit a great freekick 15 minutes into the match. Gennadiy Perevalov fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 19th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Sergey Arshavin having to interfere. 25 minutes into the match, Roman Bolotov had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Sergey Arshavin. Elektrostal HC's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Roman Bolotov was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 1-0. If Egor Kovtun had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 31st minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. After 39 minutes of play, Elektrostal HC's Egor Kovtun made it 1-1 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Leonid Kazachenok was left in no man's land by his defense there! 43 minutes into the game, Maksim Plaksin cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 1-2. Leonid Kazachenok was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in.

The hometeam waved at the audience when it was time for Egor Kovtun to strike the kick off in the second half. The audience thought a goal was coming when Maksim Plaksin got free with Leonid Kazachenok in the 52nd minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. If Maksim Plaksin had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 58th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Egor Kovtun blasted a shot towards the goal in the 60th minute, but the shot hit the top of the crossbar and went out without Leonid Kazachenok having to make a save. In the 62nd match minute, Elektrostal HC was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Petr Glibin to maneuver through the defense. Roman Bolotov sent away a hard shot on goal in the 64th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. In the 79th minute, Evdokim Vypusk fired a really elegant long shot, but Leonid Kazachenok threw himself and managed to get hold of the ball just in front of the right post. If Maksim Plaksin had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 81st minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. In the 82nd minute, ФК ТАЙГА's Anton Fadeev seemed to kick out at an opponent. The referee saw this and, surprisingly, showed Anton Fadeev the red card, dismissing him from the pitch. The coaching staff of ФК ТАЙГА protested bitterly, but the referee would have none of it, and Anton Fadeev had no choice but to slowly walk off the pitch. The referee blew the whistle for a penalty in the 82nd minute of the game. One of ФК ТАЙГА:s players had nearly got his shirt torn off by an opponent while getting free in front of Elektrostal HC:s goal. Maksim Plaksin's shot was meant for the net just under the crossbar, but Leonid Kazachenok read the situation well and was quickly in position to make a wonderful save in the 88th minute of play. Frol Dovlatov sent away a hard shot on goal in the 91st minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Egor Kovtun fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 98th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Leonid Kazachenok having to interfere. Elektrostal HC's players went to the stands to thank the travelling support. The fan's backing had helped spurr the team on to a fine performance that won them the match.