U21 World League

Hippo Pool
Spectators: 7650 (Terracing: 5739, Seating: 1759, VIP seats: 152) It was fairly windy and cold on the field when Romualdas Podėris kicked off to start the match. After 2 played minutes Savage Hippo got a freekick which was hit by Nerijus Narkūnas. After 4 played minutes -BZF- Petrolul Berca got a freekick which was hit by Mihai Opriș. Mihai Opriș's late challenge caught a Savage Hippo's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Mihai Opriș helped the player get up and apologised. Mihai Opriș kicked well hit freekick during the 7th minute of the match. 11 minutes into the game, Mantas Puikys was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Savage Hippo's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave -BZF- Petrolul Berca the free kick. In the 11th minute, Mantas Puikys hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. In the 12th minute, Lucian Abraham ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Svajūnas Božys was frozen by the shot and now it was 0-1. Giedrius Žalnerauskas charged in rather forcefully in the 14th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Giedrius Žalnerauskas the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. The supporters of -BZF- Petrolul Berca booed when Savage Hippo was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 14 match minutes in a wonderful position. Giedrius Žalnerauskas didn't get a good kick on the ball. -BZF- Petrolul Berca's Nicolae Pencu couldn't find anyone to pass the ball to, so he shot a long shot towards the goal in the 15th minute. The shot went wide which resulted in a goal kick for Savage Hippo. Svajūnas Božys showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Emilian Ciprian in the 17th minute of the match. After a rather tough play, -BZF- Petrolul Berca's Mihai Opriș got a free kick in the 20th minute. After a rather tough play, -BZF- Petrolul Berca's Emilian Ciprian got a free kick in the 21st minute. Emilian Ciprian fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 25th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Svajūnas Božys having to interfere. After a defensive mix-up in Savage Hippo's zone, Luca Coșereanu stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Svajūnas Božys came out of the goal and Luca Coșereanu tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Svajūnas Božys made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Lucian Abraham in the 28th minute of play. After some fancy dribbling in the 37th minute, Eliodor Birișu managed to get in a good position for a shot. -BZF- Petrolul Berca's supporters rose to their feet, but Eliodor Birișu was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Svajūnas Božys breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. The audience was convinced that Lucian Abraham's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Svajūnas Božys was relentless in the 42nd minute of the game. In the 45th minute, Nerijus Narkūnas hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Svajūnas Božys made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Lucian Abraham in the 47th minute of play.

When the second half was about to start, both teams quickly lined up and Eliodor Birișu made a kick off. Lucian Abraham could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 51st minute of the match, but Svajūnas Božys made a huge save. Svajūnas Božys made an important save on a dangerous shot by Lucian Abraham in the 51st minute. Eliodor Birișu made a well adjusted shot against goal in the 53rdth minute coming free in front of the goal, but Svajūnas Božys would not let the ball come through at any expense and made a nice save by the left post. Nerijus Narkūnas's late challenge caught a -BZF- Petrolul Berca's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Nerijus Narkūnas helped the player get up and apologised. After a rather tough play, Savage Hippo's Nerijus Narkūnas got a free kick in the 55th minute. Lucian Abraham hit a great freekick 56 minutes into the match. In the 60th minute Romualdas Podėris shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Nistor Arjoca saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. 69 minutes into the match, -BZF- Petrolul Berca's goal looked a bit too open when Alfredas Klenkys came free, but Nistor Arjoca reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Mădălin Hrib's late challenge caught a Savage Hippo's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Mădălin Hrib helped the player get up and apologised. After 72 minutes of play, -BZF- Petrolul Berca's Eliodor Birișu made it 1-2 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Svajūnas Božys was left in no man's land by his defense there! If Emilian Ciprian had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 76th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. The supporters of Savage Hippo booed when -BZF- Petrolul Berca was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 78 match minutes in a wonderful position. Lucian Abraham didn't get a good kick on the ball. Romualdas Podėris fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 82nd minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Nistor Arjoca having to interfere. Eliodor Birișu received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 87th minute. Svajūnas Božys tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Mădălin Hrib kicked well hit freekick during the 90th minute of the match. Svajūnas Božys took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Eliodor Birișu, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. The Savage Hippo fans had already started to leave before the final whistle blew. -BZF- Petrolul Berca were clearly better and deserved to take the win.