Let’s face it: when PJK 2 was reduced to ten men about five minutes into the second half, we should have been able to take care of business and turn the 0-1 deficit into three points. Instead, before we even got our equalizer, we were extremely close to going 0-2 down, and were only saved by an opponent losing his footing in front of an empty goal. For a while it looked like this would be the turning point of the match, as Adnan Omerovic scored the 1-1 equalizer almost immediately after this. However, that wasn’t to be. We never took the lead, and in the end we were fortunate to manage a 2-2 draw.

On Sunday we will play against the second team of Pirkkalan Jalkapalloklubi (PJK 2) in our home stadium at Pyynikki. This is the second one in the string of four home matches at Pyynikki, the last one being the last match of the season against JanPa on September 28. With promotion on the line in this final stretch of the season, this is a great time to be a Tampere United supporter.

Friday night’s match against TaPa was the kind of match we used to have a lot last year one level lower in Kutonen. Not only was the final score a convincing 0-5 away victory, but the victory was never in any real doubt throughout the match. We had a sharp start, scored very early, and got the insurance goal in the first half as well. In the other end of the field the opponent did not have any shots on goal throughout the 90 minutes. The atmosphere in the stands was markedly positive all around, a good night in Kaukajärvi.

After an emotional match in Pyynikki in front of more than 200 in attendance, our next match takes us back to the more open confines of Kaukajärvi. The away match against Tampereen Palloilijat (TaPa) comes just three weeks after our previous encounter, a 5-1 (2-1) victory in Kauppi in a match that was pushed back due to our cup match congestion in May.

Sunday night’s match against TahVe turned out to be as heated as anticipated. In the end TamU-K was victorious in front of 219 people in attendance at Pyynikki Stadium, a season high for us, as predicted. All three goals were scored in the first half, and after 90 minutes of play the result was a 3-0 victory for the boys in blue. In the spring of course the result was the same, only then we did not need even a minute of play to achieve that.

The long-awaited match against TahVe finally takes place today. Ever since our schedule was published, I have been thinking this meeting is the only one that has some extra emotion built into it, as TahVe is the only team we play against this year that we have played against in a competitive match before. And that match was no ordinary match, as it was the emotional promotion final last fall. This alone would be quite enough, but of course everybody remembers what happened earlier on this season. This first meeting since that promotion match was supposed to happen

much earlier, but it never really did.

Saturday’s away match against OldSchool was just as difficult as I predicted. An early goal for the home side caused a lot of concern among the supporters, but in the end the boys in blue showed what they are made of. A 1-2 (1-2) under pressure in difficult circumstances shows a lot of character.

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.

What a disappointing night. Rain, lackluster support, and a bad performance on the field, leading to the first loss in a league match since June 26th last year. FC Rellu were undeniably the better team yesterday, and deserved their 0-1 (0-1) win. They took away all our space in the midfield, whereas our team had a serious lack of sharpness and calm. Always in a hurry, rarely making the right choice, and often ending plays in a bad pass or a bad receiving touch. Add the inability to get shots on goal from goalmouth scrambles, and the zero in our side of the (imaginary) scoreboard was exactly what we deserved.

Just as I was preparing to write this match preview, I realized that we have not played a match in Kaukajärvi for more than a month. That is a long time away from home, even if it is your second one. On Monday night we will face FC Rellu, and it will in fact be our last home match in Kaukajärvi. A positive, in a sense, is that we will return for three more away matches.