The next TamU-K match kicks off on Friday at 8 pm, an away match against PiPo-79 at Ikuri in the far reaches of western Tampere. This should be an easy match for us to win as long as we remember that even in Kutonen no match can be won without a 100 % concentration and going into the match with 100 % effort. In the spring we won the home match 12-0, but we cannot expect a repeat of such a massacre to happen just like that. Even in that match the first 20 minutes before Joonas Niemelä broke the deadlock were nervous times for the supporters.

This might not be the most exciting match-up left in our calendar, but the whole club is abuzz ahead of it. The reason is our newest signing, Sami Kriikkula. Last season Kriikkula played in TPV in Kakkonen, the third tier of Finnish football. He got just under 2000 minutes in 24 matches and scored 6 goals. Reports from the training field say that his shot has power that is unheard of in the Kutonen level. He is also good in the air, and goes into one-on-one battles with a ferocity that will make an average Kutonen player pee in their pants. Welcome to the club Sami!

Another interesting aspect to the match is that the field in Ikuri is quite a bit smaller than our regular home field in Kaukajärvi. I would not expect this to be a significant problem for us. After all we have played quite a few training matches in Ikuri with good results, including one during the July break. However, it will have an effect on the nature of the match, and allows just a couple of skilled individuals to create chances from turnovers. Based on what I have seen from PiPo earlier, including a match against Ikurin Vire in Ikuri, they do have a few such skilled players. Even still, PiPo has been able to get just 9 points from their 9 previous matches, and have conceded 53 goals. They simply cannot be a problem for a team that wants to get promoted.