Сайт арбітрів Київщини починає нову рубрику – «Подорожні нотатки від Філа», у якій англієць Філ Хоуден, закоханий у аматорський футбол нашого регіону, ділиться своїми враженнями від побаченого.
Кілька слів про самого Філа. Він футбольний фанат із Йорка, що на півночі Англії. Також є арбітром із крикету. Одна з його пристрастей – український футбол усіх рівнів, за яким він спостерігає в нашій країні вже 24 роки. Він спостерігав за приблизно 400 іграми в Україні, також подорожує по Європі за національною збірною й бачив наживо кожну гру «жовто-синіх» на великих турнірах. Нещодавній локдаун надихнув його дослідити футбол Київської області та відвідати багато нових місць, де є аматорський футбол. Наразі Філ проживає в Києві, куди повернувся з Британії у вересні минулого року.
FROM THE SIDELINES (11/04/21)
The second round of this season’s Kyiv Oblast Premier and First Leagues took place over the weekend and, already, the results have shown that this year’s competitions are absolutely wide open. Excitement, effort and intrigue – this weekend had it all.
Having the chance to see two games on Saturday, I travelled to the beautiful surroundings of Shpitky and the correctly-titled ‘Park-Stadion’. Bathed in the Spring sunshine, it has to be one of the most picturesque venues for football I have ever visited, the trees providing a stunning backdrop to the game.
The first fixture was between Ronin Lisne and Sokil Mykhailivka-Rubezhivka. I had seen Sokil lose the previous week in the season opener, a shock 2-1 defeat to Yunior Makariv, and fancied them to get back on track against a hard-working and skillful Ronin team that may cause a few surprises this season.
The decisive moment in a very tight match came just before half an hour was played when, as Sokil poured forward, a nasty collision was judged by referee Titov to be a foul, a penalty was correctly awarded and then converted. The Ronin keeper was beside himself with rage, feeling it was the wrong decision, and complained about the penalty for the whole of the rest of the game. To make things worse for the Lisne stopper, it was the only goal and Sokil won 1-0.
There was a bizarre incident which may interest you if you are referee. As the ball was going out of play for a throw-in, a Sokil substitute lying by the touchline made contact with the ball before it went out of play, diverting it out for a corner. Referee Titov, probably as shocked and astonished as everyone watching, brandished a yellow card to the bemused substitute. His Sokil teammates were less than impressed by this unnecessary offence and soon told their colleague their opinion of his behaviour in the clearest possible terms.
Next up was the big clash of the day, last year’s Premier League runners-up Juniors Shpitky against Kyrsanov Memorial Tournament winners Nyva Buzova. Juniors are always a good side and the prospect of them facing the ambitious new boys from near neighbours Buzova was genuinely exciting. Nyva are a very progressive club and a real breath of fresh air to add to the Oblast football league, and they are my favourites to win the title in 2021.
The match did not disappoint with the quality of football very, very high. Under bright young coach Mark Martynenko, Nyva play a fast and exciting brand of football that is great to watch, but Juniors give nothing away and barely concede a goal. So, when in-form Ivan Somov put the visitors into the lead just past the hour mark, it looked like Nyva would take the three points. But, in what was a titanic struggle by the end of the game, Juniors forced an 88th minute equaliser, Samburskiy heading home a rebound from close range.
It was an outstanding game and special praise must go to referee Kutakov, who had a busy afternoon with a lot of tackles flying in and a really high tempo of play to keep up with. A draw was probably a fair result in the end but Nyva, backed by a noisy and colourful group of travelling fans, will feel that two points were snatched away from them at the death.
After Saturday, I didn’t imagine I would experience the same level of entertainment on Sunday but, again, Ukrainian football never disappoints. I travelled to the small town of Obukhiv to watch local team Vertikal take on Avanhard Bziv, who I had seen thrash Zorya Mironivshchyna in their first outing of the season last week.Here is where I should apologise to Vertikal for my preconceptions of what would happen in this game. To get the best photos I can, I usually spend some time behind the goal of the team I think is going to concede goals. So, I went behind Vertikal’s net expecting to capture Avanhard’s decisive moments as I assumed that the former champions of Kyiv Oblast would win comfortably.
This was a huge mistake because, after a goalless first half, Vertikal turned on the style in the second period and goals from Surman, Babayev and Boiko gave the home side a tremendous 3-0 win. At the final whistle, the Obukhiv players celebrated with their small army of bare-chested fans, complete with flag and pyrotechnics, and it was clear how much this victory meant to Vertikal. I have to say, they thoroughly deserved it, and you do not win 3-0 by accident. And you also don’t get photographs of goals if you stand at the wrong end!
As far as the venue was concerned, it was a superb stadium and the pitch was in mint condition. With quarantine restrictions in place throughout most of the country, life is difficult for players and officials, and spectators are unable to attend. But what is most impressive is how officials at clubs like these have organised themselves so well to cope with the necessary protocols and restrictions. At both games, staff were on hand to control entry and make sure everything was conducted within the rules.
Finally, I have to say that the performance of the officials this weekend was excellent and the standard of refereeing in the Ukrainian amateur leagues continues to really impress me. All the officials allowed the players to be the stars of the show, and facilitated entertaining, fast-moving games which were enjoyable to watch whether in person or online. It was a job well done. Where should I go next week? Wherever it is, I’m sure it will be another interesting journey for a foreign visitor delving into the world of Ukrainian football.