The second match in less than two months between Phoenix and Energiya of Lviv once again became one of the gems of the round – vivid, technical, fast-paced and intriguing.
Both teams had quite an unlucky start in the first round of the High League of the Championship of Ukraine U15. Both of them lost with a slim disadvantage: the Lviv team lost to Sokil of Khmelnytskyi 0:1 and Phoenix failed to keep the advantage over Rivne Sports School No4, giving in with the tally of 1:2 in the end. The 9th and 10th positions in the ranking are obviously at odds with the aspirations of the teams. It goes without saying that none of the teams wanted to lose the points scored in the second round.
Jumping ahead, both teams were rewarded for the great match by Providence, or, rather, the regulations of the Championship of Ukraine, envisaging a penalty shootout in case of a draw. The reward was uneven, though: Phoenix, having won in the after match lottery thanks to Volodymyr Lazeba’s excellent play, gained its first two points, whereas, the Lviv players gained one.
The Lviv team was as mobile and powerful in its play as it was in the Cup of Ukraine, which took place in the same location the previous month. Energiya registered several freshers, with the main reinforcement, undoubtedly, being Yurii Yaremchuk, the goalie and the skipper. The keeper of the greens was not only one of the best goalies of the Championship of Ukraine U15 in the previous season, he managed to debut in Favbet Extra League, being just 15 years old! Athletic, flexible, with good reflexes, Yurii was not only a considerable reinforcement to Energiya’s last stand, but also the team’s dynamo. Yaremchuk was leading the play of the teammates in a confident manner and in the second half he would join the attacks of his team dangerously, performing the function of the fifth outfield player.
The struggle was even. This time, though, the violets were the first ones to concede – Oleksandr Linyov made use of Phoenix’s mistake in the defense. The Lvivians surpassed the Phoenix players in their individual mastery, ours looked stronger in the team play. In the first half Phoenix had territorial advantage, showing better control of the ball while looking for trap-doors to Yurii Yaremchuk’s goal, whereas the Lviv players had the better of play: both in number of dangerous chances and in the shots on target. At the wrap-up stage the players of Energiya were much more accurate (7 shots on target compared to 4 ours), therefore, the role of Volodymyr Lazeba and his confident play are hard to overestimate.
In the second half Serhii Hrytsenko and Yurii Vashchenko introduced some corrections into the play of their team and Phoenix put pressure on the opposition during the whole of the second half. The Lvivians were not ready for that and Phoenix’s advantage grew more and more definite. Dangerous chances at Energiya’s net were growing more and more frequent, their implementation being close to success.
Phoenix did manage to get even eventually. The pressure helped. Ivan Konkov collared the ball from Vladyslav Bekar and with an accurate pass took Maksym Dolhulia to the centre of the net and the kick of the latter ended in a goal.
Energiya switched to the five-s-side style, Yurii Yaremchuk being the fifth player, and had quite good chances to win back what it had lost, Lazeba’s guarding the net was perfect, though. Phoenix had one last chance to gain advantage, Danylo Dudin missed the target, though, left unattended by Yaremchuk.
In the penalty shootout, which, according to the new rules, consists of five shots per each team, the violets paid back the debt to the opposition in terms of accuracy and implementation. Lazeba pulled through Maksym Berezyak’s kick , Yurii Yaremchuk’s ball hit the crossbar and Pavel Huk missed the net. Danylo Khodatskyi, Danylo Boldyzhev and Ivan Konkov’s three accurate kicks from the shooting position brought Phoenix such an important win, in the first place in the psychological sense, and first two points in the tournament.
Tomorrow two battles await our team: one against Sokil of Khmelnytskyi, who knew no point loss, and Ilichovets of Chornomorsk, the tournament host.