After having conceded our first points in the last match, the question on my mind this week has been what it is that constitutes a must-win. Clearly, sitting on the top of the table seven points ahead of the second place team a bit after the half-way point of the season, no match can be a must-win in the truest sense. However, by winning the next match we can avoid a lot of stress and heartache. The sooner we return to positive things, the easier the remainder of our season will be. Among the supporters at least, a second loss would add a lot of anxiety ahead of our return to Pyynikki a week later.

Indeed, as good as a seven-point cushion seems like, it is important to realize how quickly it could melt away. I do not expect ViiPV to drop many points in the remainder of the season, because they play most of their matches home, where they are very strong. Our next two matches, on the other hand, are couple of the more difficult ones left in our calendar. Tomorrow’s opponent OldSchool sits third on the table and the next opponent TahVe is just one point behind them. It does not take any kind of a math wizard to count where we could be in relation to ViiPV after two matches if things go really badly.

In the spring OldSchool was one of our most difficult opponents, and without a missed penalty and the ball bouncing onto the goal line from the crossbar when the match was 1-1 early in the second half, the score might have been very different than our 4-1 victory. It seems to me that OldSchool is somewhat similar to FC Rellu: a team that works hard and who have played together in Vitonen for several years. The main difference between the two teams this season is that OldSchool has conceded a few more goals, but on the other hand they have also scored a lot more than Rellu has. With that OldSchool lies one point ahead of Rellu on the table.

New injuries are causing additional concern for us. Both of the Kupiainen brothers are expected to miss this match. With Joonas it is certain, as an ankle injury keeps him out for at

least a month. In my mind he has been our most important player this season, so it is a tough loss. With Jesse we lose a lot of creativity in the midfield, and as Anssi Saiha is still out with a back injury, we have a serious gap in the midfield. Luckily we have a lot of defenders available, and there are a few players who could come up to the midfield. Timo Kauppinen or Juha Kumara would be the most obvious choices.

The match will be played in Kaukajärvi, hosted by OldSchool as the home team. Kick-off on Saturday will be at 5 pm sharp. See you there!