The central match of the last group stage of the Summer Futsal Tournament was the meeting space for the teams who had worked their way directly to the semi-finals. For that reason the intrigue was about the place in the standings the leaders will take after the first stage.
Phoenix, which in actual fact is playing under the ‘vacation’ mode, was set up by Serhii Hrytsenko during the pre-match warm-up. The team had to play both defensive and attacking styles to compete with their stronger rival. The violets had a half per each of the tasks.
Jumping ahead let us note that the team played up to both of the trainer’s instructions quite well. Do not let the tally mislead you: it was rather the result of a weak realization of moments than of poor discipline. Moreover, the boys created more than enough moments today, having outplayed the competition in terms of the number of goals on target and accuracy. Phoenix could do with higher effectiveness.
Suffice it to say that eight out of nine field players of the team had very good – if not 100 percent -chances to conquer the goal. It is just that we were not in the luck today.
Phoenix looked very good in the first half, playing defense first. Such tactics caught the Valkovians a bit unawares. They were playing the long ball game on their part of the field, having no opportunity to provoke a sharp struggle. All the down the line passes of the competition were deciphered by the players of both our four-player squads and the first goal, which took place two minutes before the end of the first half, was caused by an inaccurate pass in the defense.
Serhii Hrytsenko decided not to change the original plan for the game and in the second half the team resorted to a familiar, open style of football. As a result more moments started to turn up. Phoenix could not claim to be domineering – generally, the play was equal. Both teams were playing the score. The number of dangerous moments at the gate of Anatolii Naku increased considerably. In the first half the number of shots was absolutely even (seven each), whereas in the second half of the match the ratio was 17-6 in our favour. If it had not been for the brilliant play of the competition’s goalie, the tally could have changed more than once.
The Valky team counter attacked and the manner of their attacks was quite dangerous. They scored for the second time not as a result of such counter attacks, though, but, just as with the first goal, because of our trip on a smooth spot.
Phoenix switched to the five-a-side tactics and looked quite good, doing so, playing in a coordinated and disciplined manner, creating plenty of dangerous moments but scoring nothing.
As a result the violets suffered their first defeat in the tournament, which, in actual fact, did not bring anybody down – so good the team had looked in the match, which became some sort of a pre-finale dress rehearsal.
We will know who our rival will be after the Kolos of Derhachi and Benfika have played. Valky Sports School in case its team of 2006 wins in a play-off with FC Chkalovske, has all the chances of playing the semi-finals that are purely Valkovian.
The dates of final meetings are still to be determined but there is a high chance the tournament will have ended by August 2.