Review : Belarus 2021 Women’s Premier League – Weeks 6 & 7

April 29 – May 8, 2021

April 29, 2021

ABFF U19 0-4 Zorka BDU

Dynamo Brest 1-4 FK Vitebsk

Dinamo BGU Minsk 3-0 FK Minsk ( att : 220 )

April 30, 2021

Dnepr Mogilev 2-5 Neman Grodno ( att : 50 )

Bobruichanka 10-0 Region of Gomel ( att : 50 )

May 3, 2021

ABFF U19 3-0 Dinamo Brest

Dnepr Mogilev 9-0 Region of Gomel ( att : 50 )

May 7, 2021

FK Minsk 7-0 ABFF U19 ( att : 50 )

FK Vitebsk 0-3 Dinamo BGU Minsk ( att : 100 )

May 8, 2021

Neman Grodno 2-1 Bobruichanka ( att : 15 )

Region of Gomel 1-0 Dinamo Brest ( att : 20 )

Zorka BDU 2-3 Dnepr Mogilev ( att : 50 )

The last two weeks have seen two rounds of matches, plus the two delayed matches from round 1, being played in the Belarus Women’s Premier League. With all sides now having played 7 matches, the table has taken shape, and it is entirely plausible that the current positions of the table will be same at the end of the season.

Perhaps the most intriguing match was not the top of the table encounter between the two Minsk sides, but the match between the two sides at the bottom of the table, Between them, Regional of Gomel and Dinamo Brest had lost their 6 previous matches, only scored one goal each, and had a collective goal difference of  minus 115 ! Here was an opportunity to play an opponent more at their level and to be competitive for a change. The first half was predictably dire with neither side looking capable of coming close to scoring. However, in the second half both sides grew in confidence and perhaps as tiredness set in, the game opened up a little and both sides created chances to score.

The turning point of the match happened in the 74^th minute when Gomel’s Kukso pulled the shirt of Chekotylo and promptly received a slap in the face. The referee immediately showed the red card to the Brest player, giving Gomel a player advantage. Who says crime doesn’t pay !

With Brest struggling to reorganise, Gomel took the lead a minute later with a neat 1-2 releasing Tikhonova to shoot home from the edge of the area for the winner, and a morale boosting win for Gomel.

 

The match between Dinamo BGU Minsk and FK Minsk was eagerly awaited as an indication as to whether the youngsters of Minsk would be able to seriously challenge champions Dinamo. In what could have been seen as the “old guard” versus the “future”, experience comfortably came on top, and Dinamo probably should have won by more than 3-0.

Dinamo had missed several good chances before taking the lead in the 29^th minute, with the goal having an element of fortune to it. Pilipenko’s corner to the near post should have easily been cleared by Tovarevich, but she missed the ball, which hit the unsighted keeper and squeezed into the net. Shlapakova’s thumping finish after a corner was only partially cleared gave Dinamo a two goal lead at half-time, and Dinamo clinched victory 15 minutes from time when Alkhovik ran onto a long clearance to calmly finish. Minsk did win a penalty in added on time, but Ebi put the ball wide of the post to leave Dinamo still to concede a goal this season. 

 

Neman Grodno have won 6 out of 7 matches, with their only reverse coming in a 0-2 defeat at Dinamo Minsk. They consolidated their place in the top three with an impressive 5-2 at improving Dnepr Mogilev, having sown up the game with 4 first half goals. In turn, Dnepr continue to improve on last season and moved into 4^th place with a 3-2 win at Zorka, which was more comfortable that the scoreline suggests, having taken a 3 goal lead only to concede two late goals. Yana Artishevskaya scored the first two goals for Dnepr, and again looked to be a very talented player.

 

Bobruichanka continue to provide stubborn opposition to the sides above them and have now lost only 1-2 at both Neman and Dnepr, whilst Vitebsk’s results have got better as the season has progressed. After hammering Gomel and Dinamo Brest and losing to the odd goal in five at Bobruichanka, they had a very creditable performance in only 0-3 to Dinamo Minsk.

ABFF U19 recorded their first victory of the season with a regulation 3-0 over Dinamo Brest, and are another side improving as they play more games together.