The fall season has been easy cruising for TamU-K. Apart from the match against Pelikassit, we have not really been tested so far. It all is about to change though, as the last three opponents are AC Darra, YlöR/2, and Ikurin Vire. As of now at least, these are all must wins against some of the tougher teams in our subdivision.

The first test is against AC Darra on Wednesday. They have had a very bad season, and have managed only three wins in 13 matches. However, they put up a real fight against us earlier this season in Kaukajärvi, and we just barely managed to get the 4-3 victory. A week earlier they had lost with the same numbers against Pelikassit, and a month ago they even managed a 2-0 victory over Ikurin Vire. In the mix they have also had some bad losses against teams that aren’t very good, so it seems that their quality varies a lot week to week. Regardless, it is clear that we cannot just look at the table and think this match will be easy.

Looking at our position in the table and the fixtures ahead it would be easy to fall into the trap of thinking we can afford to drop three points and still have promotion in our own hands. Even though strictly speaking that is true, it would mean that we’d be under enormous pressure for the reminder of the season. Moreover, a win is the only way of keeping the hopes of direct promotion alive, and in the absence of that happening, winning this match as well as the next one against YlöR/2 could make the last match of the season against Vire meaningless.

Our team seems to be suffering from a flu epidemic, and it has taken out some important players. Most notably, the starting center backs from our previous match, Sami Kriikkula and Heikki Wilen, are both out. This will probably mean that we’ll see Mika Suonsyrjä and Mika Oksanen return to those positions, unless Ahmed Lakra makes a return to the center back position or there is some other surprise. Isaac Gbehan is also out, which probably opens space in the 18 for Jussi Vihonen, the hat trick hero from the NoPS match.

The match kicks off tomorrow at 6 pm sharp at Ikuri. This is the first competitive match for TamU-K on that field, but it should pose no problems as the team has played several training matches there. The field is a bit smaller than in Kaukajärvi, but if anything, it should just help us.