Colt Football League: Play-Off Suspense

Shakhtar U16: Rumiantsev, Koriakіn, Bіlokur, Shushko, Katerusha, Nazarenko, Tsekalo (Prokopchuk, 60), Dobrokhotov, Prybluda (Viachystyi, 41), Holovkіn (Litovchenko, 50), Drozdov (Apanchuk, 55)

Head Coach: Hennadіi Zubov
Coach: Oleksandr Alіmov

"It was hard for us, as well as our opponents to play because of the heat," Shakhtar U16's head coach Hennadii Zubov stated after the match, "The referee had to stop the game every 20 minutes so that the players could get a drink of water. We prepared for the match and studied the Mykolaiv team. As expected, they played a physical game. We were able to create some goal scoring opportunities in each half, but did not push through in the final stage. There was an arguable point, when Dobrokhotov was knocked down in the opponent's penalty area, but the referee decided that there was nothing illegal there. It was evident that the guys were striving to win but they lacked experience. We will take a detailed post look at the game to find ways of cracking the defense of Torpedo-VUFK in the second leg," he concluded.

Іllіchіvets U17 (Mariupol) - Shakhtar U17 (Donetsk) - 2: 4 (0:2)

Shakhtar goals: Kuzmenko (30), Mate (36), Kashchuk (44, 80)

Shakhtar U17: Vertei, Losev, Mate, Bondar, Pavlysh, Sobolevskyi (Serdiuk, 80), Kuzmenko, Haivan, Vakulenko (Bodnaruk, 72), Kashchuk, Andrushchenko

Head Coach: Valerii Rudakov
Coach: Oleksandr Koval

"We worked hard to limit the opponent's opportunities for action since the very beginning of the game, while focusing our play on counter-attacks," head coach of Shakhtar U17 Valerii Rudakov said at a post game press conference, "We certainly would have loved to avoid conceding any goals, and the two that we did really brought some nervousness into our guys' actions. We did control the ball in general, but sometimes had trouble with the final pass. I want to note that I am happy with the guys' attitude. We have a good lead for the second leg while the two conceded goals will keep our team in check."