The long season is finally coming to an end. Thinking back to when the season started almost seems like ancient history now, whether that point in time is the start of Regions’ Cup against ViiPV in April, our two Finnish Cup matches in February, or the first training matches in January. But here we are at the eve of the final match of the season. And that match is against FC Melody for the Vitonen title in the Tampere region.

There has been a lot of discussion on this match. For two teams that have already secured promotion, it is hardly the pinnacle of the season. At the same time, the way in which this match has been played down has been met with feelings of disbelief and even disgust by many supporters. After all, there is a cup on the line here, and at least for TamU-K it is a chance to win the first one in the short history of the reborn club.

The reality is though that neither team will have anything near a full bench tomorrow. Many TamU-K players have good reasons to be absent, but at the same time I’m sure we would have a few more players available if promotion was on the line in this match. This is not to put any sort of blame on players, but just a realistic description of the situation. And of course we know that all of our players will do everything for the victory when they do take the field.

In principle this should be a great match. Both teams were clearly the best ones in their respective Vitonen subdivisions, and a match to see who are truly the best team would seem like a great idea. Add that FC Melody is the former team of head coach Mika Suonsyrjä, and there should be some emotion in the match too. The realities being what they are though, I suppose we will see during the ninety minutes how much of a fight players on both teams still have left in

them.

The match kicks off in Pyynikki at noon on Saturday. The supporters will be there in more or less full force, and I do have a hunch that we will get a very nice overall attendance for this match. I really hope I’m right, because it would be a pity to end such a great season with a whimper.