Sunday was such a perfect day for our club. That wouldn’t of course have been the case without the 3-1 victory over FC PaPo on the field, but what made the day perfect was everything surrounding the match. The attendance at Pyynikki Stadium was estimated at about 200, and the flood lights in the darkening night provided a setting where it was easy for us to create the best atmosphere we’ve had the whole season.

My day started with the creation of one more banner for the match. We had planned to make it while we were making the main choreo for the night, but as is often the case, time ran out in those sessions, and so I volunteered to make it on match day. The banner said ”Respect for ECS” in reference to the support that has been flooding over from the other side of the world. Some might think that the support is limited to supporting TamU-K financially by buying a bunch of scarves, but the truth is that the fact that people are following our club all the way in Seattle serves as extra motivation for players, coaching staff, and everybody else in the club. I really wish more people could come over and visit us next season, even if comments on Facebook and elsewhere online help us almost as much as your physical presence.

After a bunch of hassle and haste, I finally arrived in the prematch bar about 40 minutes before we left for the march to the stadium. That was enough time for a pint and some nervous chatting with the 40 or so people that were already there. The march to the stadium was our biggest one this season. We held the Sinikaarti banner up in front, sang loud, and got some very confused looks from people that we came across.

When we arrived at the stadium, it was time to set up our choreo. Since it only had a front banner and a bunch of flags, it was a relatively easy one. Soon other Tampere United fans started trickling down to the stadium, and it looked like the club made bank on selling a lot of coffees, hot and cold juice, sausages, match day programs, TamU-K badges, and even some DVD’s of the club’s first official match against KaVo back in April. At the halftime break a long line actually formed, and as many sausages were sold as there was time for.

The match itself was a nervous affair from both teams. It seemed that FC PaPo got a slightly better start to the match even if they never really threatened to score during the first half. Still, the first 10 minutes were clearly theirs, and even in the entire first half hour TamU-K got very little done. The deadlock was broken by Jose Chemlal’s beautiful free kick from 20 yards out in to the top right corner of the net. Just before the break Lauri Heittola doubled the lead by a beautiful header from Alaa Adeeb’s perfect cross from the right side of the field.

Going to the second half I felt totally confident and at ease. I knew that nothing could take the victory from us. Even when FC PaPo scored the 2-1 goal on the 82nd minute, I allowed thoughts of a looming disappointment creep into my head for just a very brief moment. Then less than five minutes later TamU-K earned a penalty. The call was a little dubious, but nobody that was near me seemed to care, and I suppose it is fair to say that after a couple non-calls in the penalty area we had earned a call to finally go our way. Sami Kriikkula walked to put the ball on the penalty spot, and the whole stadium got completely silent. This was one of my favorite moments of the night. Everybody knew what was on the line, and the collective will of the spectators made Sami succeed. Or maybe it was just that he is such a quality guy who has been in tough situations before, and can just go and shoot a penalty in to the top corner with some force when many other guys on this level would be peeing in their pants. Regardless, it was 3-1 with just a couple minutes to go. Match done.

Finally, I do have to say that this was not the best match we have played this season. Not by a long shot. But at this point in the season only the results matter. It is also a sign of the quality of this team that we can scrape a result even when we are not at our best. Based on the intensity of the celebrations during the last minutes of the match as well as after the final whistle, this all seemed to be obvious to everybody in the stands after the match. The team came over to celebrate in front of the supporters, and looked happy but not satisfied. For me, singing and pogoing with the players after the match has not ever meant as much as it meant yesterday.

Still, one more match remains. The promotion final against Tahmelan Vesa will be played on Sunday next week with TamU-K hosting the match at Pyynikki Stadium. Kick-off is again set at 7 pm sharp. We get to do this again, and next time it will be for real.