The calendar year, which was successful for Phoenix, is coming to an end. It will be remembered for the victory in the Plarium League and a worthy performance in the final part of the U-13 Championship of Ukraine, the 'silver' of the Kharkiv Open Futsal Championship, for the champion's titles at the Futsal Fair in Lutsk and at the international tournament in Hamburg. In general, Phoenix gave a lot of positive emotions to its fans, who passionately supported their favorite team both in home competitions and during international trips.
2019 was ending for us with two matches of the Kharkiv Open Championship. The first team played against Persha Stolytsia-2004, represented by players born in 2004 and therefore playing hors concours. Nevertheless, the boys fought, and they certainly cannot be blamed for the lack of dedication. Another thing is that the 'violets' had hard time dealing with more physically strong opponents who were 2-3 years older. This factor, of course, impacted both the alignment of forces on the site and the final result. Phoenix adopted a combinational style of play, at times challenging the opponent monumentally. To some extent, Phoenix could have been luckier at the very start of the match, because had Artyom Shevchenko and Daniil Dudin been a little more accurate, the game could have followed a completely different scenario.
The fighting spirit of our guys was on the level. They were not put off by two goals conceded in the middle of the first half. Demyd Yevsiukov, in his turn, got on the scoresheet with a spectacular goal, making the goalkeeper of Persha Stolytsia capitulate with a powerful shot. Ivan Konkov, who successfully completed a multi-pass combination of the team, added a point to Phoenix score. Thus, Phoenix managed to realize the power play tactics using the fifth field player. However, the game with the fifth field player yielded no more returns. The final whistle of the referee captured the victory of Persha Stolytsia - 4:2.
The end of the calendar year turned out to be very symbolic, since Phoenix, its second team, met with DYSSh Volna.
In the first half there was a lot of positional fighting, so both goalies entered the game infrequently. Before the break, our guys looked more advantageous and were clearly lacking an accurate final shot. In the second half, the game got livelier, and sharp moments occurred either at one or the other goal. Let's give credit to the goalkeepers: both Eldar Bratchuk and Ratmir Peredriy deserve the highest praise. It is no wonder that the opposition scored only twice. At first, Danylo Khodatskyi with a close range shot opened the score in the duel. However, Olexander Kuzmenko and Kostyantyn Tatarenko's trainees managed to restore the 'status quo'. After Yaroslav Vasylishyn's shot, the ball hit Vladyslav Khrypchuk - Phoenix captain - and crossed the goal line.
In the final part of the match, our guys dominated and were close to add three points to their score. However, after the powerful shots by Danylo Khodatskyi and Maxym Dolhulia, the ball hit the goalpost twice. In general, the game was highly entertaining and rewarding for both the participants and the fans.
The official games of 2019 are over. Let us thank the sixteen guys whose play has given us joy in the year that is now ending. And a special thanks to our friends from ‘Plarium Ukraine’.
Serhii Hrytsenko (Phoenix coach):
- I would like to thank everyone, today the guys made my day. It is not the result that matters, the main thing is that the kids are playing.
- What do you remember 2019 by?
- So far, everything has been going well for Phoenix. They won tournaments in Lutsk and in Hamburg. We will do our best to win the Championship of Kharkiv.
- What will be your wishes to the players and fans for the coming 2020?
- First of all, I want to wish everyone to be in good health, and everything else will follow.