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For the juniors, the last match of this calendar year did not go according to plan

On Sunday, December 29, the last match of the juniors (u-19) in this calendar year was scheduled. Slavija's players came to the guests. It was the turn of the classic city derby. Both teams are fighting for places at the top of the standings, which gave the whole match even more significance. Many of the matches lately between these two rivals have ended closely, with a fighting game and with many exclusions. And at least as far as the latter is concerned, today was no different.

The match didn’t start the way we wanted. As soon as the players started from the center, the guests got a puck and all of a sudden their striker found himself in front of our goalkeeper. It only took 12 seconds and the guests were already in the first lead. The game then calmed down a bit after that quick hit. It only came to life again after a few minutes. Right from the start, the rhythm of the match was dictated by a number of exclusions. There was almost no minute when one or the other team would not have at least one player on the penalty bench. In a game like this, we kept a kind of balance. Several shots were taken by the guests, but our equalizing goal also somehow hung in the air. But this was not the case in the first third and after the fighting game, the teams went to the first break with a minimal lead of the guests.

We saw a similar game in the second third as well. In this part of the game, our team attacked first, as the guests had to serve a few more penalties from the first third. But the Dragons did not take advantage of this. Our initiative was interrupted by the guests in the 25th minute, when they staged a new counterattack and took the lead with 2: 0. Our players had to take the “rush” again and slowly prepare the initiative to join the rivals. And when, after a few minutes, it looked like our players could score a goal to lower, the visitors took advantage of the new attack. In the 32nd minute, they were effective again and took the lead with 3: 0. The match, of course, has not been decided at this time, but the efficiency of the guests and the constant fouls that cut our game have gradually but persistently got on the nerves of our players. There have been more and more exclusions. At some point in the second period, for example, both teams had only 3 players on the field. But in a game like this, the guests continued to be more successful. In the 39th minute, a new goal followed and with 4: 0, the match was almost lost.

At the beginning of the last third, the passions from the 2nd third calmed down a bit. There were fewer exclusions in the first few minutes and our players were getting more and more dangerous. But this initiative was interrupted in the 48th minute by a new goal by the guests, who practically decided the match with 5: 0. By the end of the match, our players tried, but at least they did not manage to score an honorable goal. However, the new two goals were scored by the guests, who achieved a convincing victory with 7: 0.

In the remaining matches, Jeseničani beat Triglav 4: 1, and Bled beat Crvena zvezda 6: 5. Olimpija thus remains in 4th place, where the gap behind 3rd place is now a bit bigger (4 points). The next match should be scheduled for Sunday, January 5 in Kranj, but the match will probably be postponed. So the next match will not follow until January 9 in Jesenice.

 

Written by: Vladimir Ban

You can see the statistics from the match at this link.

Photos from the match can be viewed at this link.

You can watch a video of the match at this link.

Otherwise, you can follow the whole event in the junior category at this link.

 

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