Before the start of today's, last but one, match day of Ukraine Championship U15 in group 'B', the situation for Phoenix was ambiguous: on the one hand, there was a fairly comfortable third place and the right to enter the final stage of the national championship, on the other, even a victory today did not guarantee us access to the cherished top eight finalists. 

Football, however, is crazy at times. And if it was 'adult' soccer, the bookmakers would have a fun day today. In the very first game of the day DYSSh Zolochiv, who had solidly bolstered itself during the transfer window, routed Persha Stolytsia - one of the key contenders for leaving the group - 12:1. This result simplified the task of Serhii Hrytsenko and Yurii Vashchenko's trainees a great deal. Now in the match with DYSSh-5 (for which read - 'Sokil') we were happy with a draw. Two hours later, though, a first real thrill came - DYSSh-7 - tournament outsider - the team, which had lost all chances of leaving the group, inflicted a second defeat on Persha Stolytsia in a penalty shoot-out! This result looked incredible in view of the fact that DYSSh-7 arrived in Zolochiv with six of them! Jumping ahead, we’ll say that five boys and Alina Horodetska managed to repeat the 'trick' two hours later, moreover, in a match with the group’s leader - the team of Sports Boarding School! 

Thus, the situation for Phoenix changed for the second time before the start of our match - this result three matches before the end of the qualifying tournament guaranteed us a place in the final tournament! The situation looked much more complicated for our rivals today. In order to leave the group, they needed to score maximum points in the remaining four matches. Therefore, the spirits of Kostyantyn Liskonoh's team were simply off the scale. So, if the first half of the match the play was equal, then from the very start of the second half, the 'reds' began to take the lead. 

In the second half, 9 (!) balls flew into our goal. It is difficult to remember when Phoenix last missed so much in only one half of the game. To be honest, most of the goals flew into the empty net - the 'violets' were no longer trying to save the score, actually working out the 5-a-side formation, trying half of their present squad for the alpha dog role. However, the 5-a-side game, which usually comes naturally to the team, today brought more grief than joy. In a word, it was, as they say in such cases, 'not our day' (I wonder how many teams that arrived today in Zolochiv said the same thing to themselves?). 

After the final whistle, an unexpected conflict arose between Maxym Dolhulia and Ivan Fesenko, each of whom were shown a red card. 

Phoenix is preparing for tomorrow's final matches against Olympic-UFK and DYSSh-7, in which the team has one single task - to redeem themselves in their own eyes and in the eyes of their fans. 

The main struggle, however, for the last ticket to the final tournament will unfold in absentia between DYSSh-5 and DYSSh Zolochiv. Sokil players (the falcons) will guarantee themselves a happy flight to the finals if they win both of their remaining matches during normal time. With a maximum score, DYSSh Zolochiv could catch up with Phoenix. The head-to-head meetings results, however, will not make it possible for the Zolochiv team to take the lead, since in both head-to-heads the lead was ours.