In the match preview I outlined three things that might work against us in the PP-70 match, and in retrospect it is easy to conclude that I was spot on with all of them. However, I would never have guessed we would put in the worst performance of the season and still win. We barely would have deserved the draw that we were going to get until the last play of the match. Then Risto Niskanen stepped up to put a free kick from some 20 meters out into the top corner of the net. Cool as you like. Sinikaarti erupted to celebrate with “Rippe” in a large ball by the sideline, and the final whistle blew before the match was restarted. Or maybe it was just after the restart. Frankly, amidst all of the celebration I would not even know.

The three things that I listed in the preview were the long break before this match, injuries and other absences, and an opponent that was highly motivated for this match. The first one is difficult to quantify, but the absence of the likes of Eero Riponiemi and Mika Kytöviita was definitely a factor in the difficulties we had. Also, PP-70 did have a full 18-man lineup for this match, and you could feel how much they wanted to win this particular match. When they scored the 1-1 equalizer, they celebrated wildly in front of the part of the crowd that had their own fans. The goal scorer even got a yellow card for removing his jersey – something that would come back to bite him later on when he got a second yellow for a reckless tackle.

TamU-K actually only had 15 players for this match, and it looked like VIlle Toiva’s substitution at the 85th minute was due to an injury. This is a slightly worrying trend, although many players who were absent today are expected to be back when matches resume next week. Also of note is the fact that without our latest addition Vesa Suonsyrjä we would have played with ten men after Toiva was forced out. Vesa was even involved in the play that lead to the free-kick that won the match for us. And to continue with positives, goalie Kalle Heltonen had a magnificent match, and I also liked Jan Irjala’s performance at central defence. His usual partner and the leader of our defensive line Timo Kauppinen missed this match, but Irjala stepped up and took charge.

I can count about a half dozen game-savers by Heltonen. The most obvious one was the saved penalty in the first half, but perhaps all the saves towards the end of the match were the most important ones. Indeed, we played the last ten minutes a man up, but it seemed that the opponent created most of the dangerous chances. This was until stoppage time, when we first had a penalty that Juho Lehtovaara missed, and then soon after that scored the game-winner from a free-kick.

Now it is time to put this match behind us and just celebrate the Finnish midsummer. After that the coaches need to get back to the drawing board and help the team get back to the form we were at in the TP-49 and SW matches. Eero Riponiemi may or may not be back, but if not, we need to find something else in the midfield that works. It was such a pity to see him get injured just when we seemed to have found a system that clicked in the midfield. However, there is enough quality in this team that we just have to be able to make our midfield work again.

PP-70 – TamU-K 1-2 (0-1)
9 min 0-1 Niko Saarinen
16 min PP-70 (pkm)
59 min 1-1 Jarkko Mäkipää
90 min Juho Lehtovaara, TamU-K (pkm)
90 min 1-2 Risto Niskanen

Discipline:
40 min Topi Jokinen, PP-70 (caution)
59 min Jarkko Mäkipää, PP-70 (caution)
80 min Jarkko Mäkipää, PP-70 (caution)
80 min Jarkko Mäkipää, PP-70 (ejection)
82 min Petri Vadén, TamU-K (caution)