U23 World League

Old Trafford
Spectators: 7511 (Terracing: 5634, Seating: 1727, VIP seats: 150) The sun was shining, the grass was green and the audience cheered when Simon Ahlgren got the match started through his kick off. Sulev Oksmaa kicked well hit freekick during the 3rd minute of the match. Simon Ahlgren fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 4th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Lennart Merioja having to interfere. 9 minutes into the match, Kogimyae JK's goal looked a bit too open when Simon Ahlgren came free, but Lennart Merioja reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Simon Ahlgren received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 13th minute. Lennart Merioja tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Lennart Merioja showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Frans Enegren in the 16th minute of the match. Joonas Nõmmiste received a nice pass, split the defenders, and ran untouched towards the goal. Johan Hultin came out and tried to block the shot, but Joonas Nõmmiste slotted it home off the left post making it 1-0 in the 24th minute. Lennart Merioja took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Simon Ahlgren, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Frans Enegren sent away a hard shot on goal in the 31st minute, but the ball hit the crossbar and went out. A very good chance for a goal. After a defensive mix-up in Kogimyae JK's zone, Axel Dahlberg stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Lennart Merioja came out of the goal and Axel Dahlberg tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Lennart Merioja made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Krister Flinck in the 36th minute of play. After having played for 38 minutes, Krister Flinck managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Rönnöfors FF's supporters crossed their fingers, but Krister Flinck was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. The referee was alert and spotted a serious foul by Ronald Kask during the 42nd minute. The player immediately received a yellow card. No-one was surprised that the home team were leading 1-0 at half-time.

The wind increased when Henri Villem made the kick off in the second half. Rönnöfors FF's attentive Per Bollström managed to snatch the ball when Olari Raudsoo made a throw-in in the 55th minute of the game. In the 57th minute, Anders Holm 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. In the 64th minute Henri Villem shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Johan Hultin saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. 67 minutes into the match, Rönnöfors FF's goal looked a bit too open when Henri Villem came free, but Johan Hultin reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. After a defensive mix-up in Kogimyae JK's zone, Joakim Fernkvist stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Lennart Merioja came out of the goal and Joakim Fernkvist tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. An unexpectedly hard shot by Henri Villem in the 76th minute of play forced Rönnöfors FF's goalkeeper Johan Hultin to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. After 78 minutes, Axel Dahlberg mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Rönnöfors FF and the Kogimyae JK players grew even worse after the yellow card. In the 84th play minute Joakim Fernkvist came free and shot an unsuspected shot which went into goal from the right pole behind a surprised Lennart Merioja. 1-1. After 88 played minutes Kogimyae JK got a freekick which was hit by Olari Raudsoo. Jeers came from both ends of the stadium when the final whistle went. Neither team had looked impressive and the draw seeemd a fair result.