Well that was a bit weird. The training match against Pelikassit was in doubt the whole week due to that the cold weather did not allow the snow and ice to melt very quickly at Pyynikki Stadium. In the end the decision was to play the match, using the American football sideline on the side of the spectator stand and moving the goal to the ten yard line in the icier west end of the field. The field in Pyynikki is small as is, and this made it about five meters (yards) narrower and more than 10 meters (yards) shorter. The result was a 1-1 draw after a lackluster performance from both teams.

I honestly do not want to draw any conclusions from this match. We didn’t get a lot going for us, but on the other hand we did not have many worries defensively. Our 1-0 goal was scored by Petri Vadén who played his first match since the match against PP-70 six weeks ago. The equalizer resulted from a defensive blunder where our own throw-in to the goalie was intercepted. Otherwise Pelikassit had their best chance from a counter attack started by a long pass to their lone forward Tommi Merto, who got to the ball because of sloppy play by our center backs. As usual, counter attacks and playing long balls to Merto seemed to be all that Pelikassit had going for them offensively.

Tactically the observation that everybody seemed to share in the stands was that our lone forward tended to be too lonely. As far as I understand, the idea is that the two wingers float to the middle in support, but that did not happen nearly enough today, especially after Mohammed El-Harrak was moved from the wing to the center. That move actually seemed weird, because the peak does not seem like a good fit for him. On the other hand we did not have many other options assuming that Jacin Dakkaki was not going to go the full 90 minutes. Mika Kytöviita was absent today nursing a minor calf injury, and for whatever reason, Sami Kriikkula did not play today.

Our program next week is a bit unclear at the moment. We had hoped to play our first Finnish Regions’ Cup fixture next weekend, but that does not seem likely as the match day has still not been decided by the powers that be. The match has to be played by May 4th, so a weekday match is looking more and more likely at this point. This is because we have league matches

on the weekends: season opener against Lammin Veto on Sunday April 28th

and an away match against FC Rellu on Sunday May 5th. Both matches will be played in Pyynikki Stadium.

The league opener is looking to become a big event. We have had very good crowds throughout the winter for training matches and even better for the two late-night Finnish Cup fixtures. The club has not yet started the full marketing campaign, but last week it was already announced that our partner restaurant Ravintola 4 Vuodenaikaa will cater their delicious French style hot dogs, just like they did in the fall in the promotion final. It’s safe to say the match is going to be delicious.

Even before that we have events going on next week. First on Thursday at 7 pm we have a football quiz (in Finnish) at Ravintola 931, another partner of ours. This is also a chance to meet players and club officials. Then on Saturday we have a benefit for TamU-K in Vastavirta-klubi under the title ”TamU-K esittää” (”TamU-K presents”). We have three local acts lined up: Hannibal+ DJ Massimo, Tryer, and Vala. It promises to be a great night with an expected sold-out crowd.

That is a lot to look forward to. Indeed, supporters have definitely grown tired of the off-season and want the real matches to start already. I have to wonder if a bit of the performance on the field today can be explained by similar feelings within the team.