What could be expected from a head-to-head duel between a leader of the tournament and one of its outsiders? The answer to this question would seem obvious. In fact, it turned out that the boys from Solonitsevka put up a real fight against the winners of the previous city Cup. Notably, the key part in this was played by three Metallist players, who were summoned to help Solonitsevka team – Kyrylo Klyuchko, Dmytro Zacarinnyi and Yehor Kosyachenko who scored hat trick following match results. It should be noted that in the comments to the video of this game three ‘legionaries’ are mentioned under different surnames that were used for the match report (in particular, Artem Dubovik and Mykyta Borovoi are mentioned).
Our team can definitely claim that the opening of the game was in their favor. Not even three minutes have passed after the starting whistle from the referee Serhii Molchanov when the ball was in the back of the net of Artem Kolotusha for the first time. The team of Serhii Hrytsenko and Yurii Vashchenko was successful after kicking-off the free kick, and Artem Shevchenko scored with a precise shot from a close range.
The conceded goal roused up Phoenix opponents who responded in the same acute manner and forced the boys in violet T-shirts to make mistakes. One of such faults was exploited by Yehor Kosyachenko. After his kick the ball rolled into the net of Eldar Bratchuk. Having exchanged goals, the opponents did not lower their tempo, and one could watch the game all in one breath. Even before the break Maksym Dolhulia managed to show his worth by prudently sending the ball into the far corner of the net after an excellent assist from the teammates.
On the whole, there was a lot of power fight, but at the same time there was no explicit roughness. The first half passed in a tenacious fight and ended up in a minimal Phoenix lead confirmed by statistics – 6:3 by shots on target in favor of the current ‘division’ leaders.
However, the second half had only just begun when these figures started changing in favor of the team from Solonitsevka. Right after the break and for certain time they managed an advantage both in gameplay and territory, and that is why it’s not surprising that the result turned even again. This time Yehor Kosyachenko ‘disappointed’ Volodymyr Lazeba who defended the last frontier of Phoenix in the second half. But not even a minute had passed when Demyd Yevsiukov after the corner kick-off made an assist to Nikita Bodnar, and the latter left no chances to the opponents’ keeper with his powerful shot. The team from Solonitsevka responded effectively within the shortest time. Once again it was Yehor Kosyachenko who defeated Phoenix keeper by his short-range kick and received congratulations from the partners.
Once again the team of Serhii Hrytsenko and Yurii Vashchenko had to start everything all over again. At a certain moment there was a feeling that for the second game in a row the boys would not manage to add the full-fledged three points to their tournament score. At this moment, however, one of the best players of the match took the responsibility – it was Danylo Boldyzhev who stood out not just because of his excellent defensive maneuvers, but also drove his team into attack on numerous occasions. Phoenix scored the decisive goal after a full-scale attack supported by all four players – Artem Shevchenko, Daniil Dudin and Maksym Dolhulia with a precise shot into the corner of the net delivered by Danylo Boldyzhev.
The last minutes of the game were spent in endless attacks of the boys from Solonitsevka, but Phoenix stood strong, having won 4:3 and adding another three points to its tournament record.
Serhii Hrytsenko (Phoenix coach):
- The opposition had very technically skilled players. Metallist had joined in, as far as I could tell. I want to thank my team so much, as it played well and did not yield to the boys from Solonitsevka.
- Was there any confidence right from the beginning and till the end of the match that Phoenix will be the winner today?
- Before each game we set our boy’s minds on victory, still, it’s a worthy experience to play against a team like the one of today.
- How do your guys adapt to participation in the tournament for players born in 2005?
- It’s hard, because we are staffed with players born in 2007 and 2008. Anyways, they are working up to it, they are fighting. Frankly speaking, the boys have not yet recharged their energies after the training camp. The game they are showing now is not yet on the level we aspire for.