FOREVER 6 - 3 Solonitzevka (379260795)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 5747 at STADIUM KOTOVSKI ODESSA today. Piotrek Kraś was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Žanis Lahančiks and Torben Rheinheimer. FOREVER decided to use a 2-5-3 set up. They fielded: Eilat - Megidish, Ratzon - Zandberg, Schlanger, Shalit, Khleborodov, Roth - Sonenzon, Mantsur, Florntz.

Solonitzevka had chosen a strategic 4-3-3 formation. Lineup: Shutkov - Larsson, Botov, Skrzos, Franko - Garaev, Bidnenko, Cozzella - Boyko, Poperedbatka, Batakov.

Counter-attacking seemed to be the preferred strategy of Solonitzevka. FOREVER took the lead after 7 minutes as a result of O. Mantsur's peach of a shot from the right hand side of the box - placed beautifully in the top corner. 1 - 0. S. Zandberg's early cross saw the defenders caught out of position and the alert O. Mantsur was able to pounce and roll the ball past the hapless goalkeeper to score for FOREVER. 2 - 0. Solonitzevka were great at switching from defence to attack, and after 15 minutes, I. Garaev swept through the middle on a counterattack, making the score 2 - 1. After 26 minutes, the away team failed to deal with a good exchange of passes on the right, and G. Schlanger gave the FOREVER supporters even more to cheer about when he increased the lead to 3 - 1. 28 minutes into the match, the visitors' central line of defence had to look on as A. Megidish broke through, making the score 4 - 1 for FOREVER. Confident in their lead, FOREVER's players relaxed and focused more on defending the lead than increasing it. The teams went for the halftime break at 4 - 1. FOREVER had most of the ball, with 59 percent of possession.

With 51 minutes showing on the scoreboard clock, Solonitzevka showed some good skill and were able to reduce the score to 4 - 2 when V. Batakov got past the home side's central defenders right in front of the goal. 52 minutes into the match S. Shalit put FOREVER ahead 5 - 2 with a truly marvelous free kick. D. Bidnenko was in the clear after breaking the offside trap following a Solonitzevka counterattack from the left after 61 minutes. His neat finish made the score 5 - 3. Content with how the game was proceeding, the FOREVER coach let B. Krinizky replace S. Zandberg after 70 minutes. A. Megidish was the new captain of FOREVER - handed the armband by the departing player. After 73 minutes, E. Florntz put FOREVER ahead 6 - 3 when he rose to head in a cross from the right wing. FOREVER claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 62 percent.

O. Mantsur performed admirably for FOREVER. F. Khleborodov turned in a dismal performance, however. Solonitzevka's top performer was clearly V. Batakov. On the other hand, T. Franko's play was disheartening. The match ends 6 - 3.