Review : Belarus 2022 Women’s Premier League – Week 11

June 11 & 12, 2022

Round 11

FK Vitebsk 6-0 Gomel ( att : 50 )

FK Minsk 1-1 Dinamo BGU Minsk ( att : 187 )

Zorka BGU 3-0 Bobruichanka ( att : 20 )

Dinamo Brest 1-1 FK Smorgon ( att : 30 )

ABFF U19 1-4 Dnepr Mogilev ( att : 100 )

In a league where the majority of the results are entirely predictable, week 11 saw some eye-rising surprises !

First of all, in the eagerly awaited rematch between FK Minsk and Dinamo BGU Minsk, FK Minsk at least kept the destination of the championship alive until the third and final encounter between the two sides as Dinamo failed to win a league match for only the second time since they were formed in 2020. The only other occasion was a 0-0 draw with the now defunct Neman Grodno on the final day of the 2020 season.

With the game being played on the grass pitch at the Traktor Stadium, Minsk took the lead with barely a minute on the clock. Kenyan striker Wafula Nekesa robbed Dabda close to half-way to run towards the Dinamo area, and a clever twist against the covering defender gave her the space to shot from the edge of the area. Although her shot beat Dinamo keeper Ulasevich all ends up, it rebounded off the post but Pinchuk was following up to calmly steer into the open opposite corner for a sensational start for Minsk.

Minsk looked the sharper side in the early stages, and a long ball over the top put Nekesa clear but her attempted lob over the advancing keeper was well saved to prevent Minsk from doubling their lead. However, after this early burst, Dinamo gradually started to get on top but found Moldovan keeper Natalia Munteanu safely handling their crosses and long-range efforts.

Dinamo were awarded a penalty in the 29^th minute but Pilipenko’s spot-kick was hammered wide. The Minsk rear-guard looked like keeping Dinamo at bay, but with just under 12 minutes remaining Valyuk was allowed to run at the Minsk back-line and then delivered a fabulous shot from 20 yards across the face of the goal for the equaliser. It needed something special to beat Munteanu.

Although Dinamo pressed for the match-winner, they couldn’t find another way past the inspired Munteanu who coped with a number of dangerous crosses and hopeful shots from distance to ensure Minsk earnt an important point.

The other major surprise of the weekend was Dinamo Brest earning both their second point of the season and scoring their second goal ! Dinamo took the lead in the 17^th minute when Dubovik’s shot from just inside the area looked harmlessly enough, but it somehow embarrassingly squirmed through the grasp of keeper Avdeychik to trickle into the back of the net.

Smorgon totally dominated the rest of the match but found the Dinamo defence more resilient than usual and keeper Klachkevich made some brave saves. Eventually the pressure told and in the 89^th minute, Smorgon’s top scorer Valeria Karitonchik was left free to head home a corner inside the six yard box to spare Smorgon’s blushes with her 6^th goal of the season.

The meeting of 4^th placed ABFF U-19 against 5^th placed Dnepr Mogilev could have been expected to be the closest encounter of the weekend, but with ABFF U-19 having won the first meeting between the two side by 3-0 in Mogilev they could have been seen as favourites. However, Dnepr begin the match in breath-taking fashion, and raced into a 3-0 lead with barely 40 minutes on the clock in a game played at Dinamo’s Yuni stadium, and it could easily have been more. Anna Denisenko was left unmarked to apply the finishing touch to a knock down from a corner, Valeria Barberenko sent a left-footed shot into the top corner from the edge of the area, and Osmolovska headed powerfully home from four yards from a corner.

ABFF U-19 gained a temporary respite when Anastasia Evzrezova took advantage of the Dnepr keeper recklessly charging outside her area to calmly chip into the empty goal to reduce the deficit to 1-3 at the interval.

ABFF U-19 were the better side in the second half but failed to carve out any clear-cut chances, and Pushkar and Osmolovska wasted good chance to extend Dnepr’s lead, before Valentina Nizhegorodeva wriggled past a couple of defenders to wrap up the points with 8 minutes remaining and take Dnepr upto 4^th place.

Elsewhere, Zorka recorded a routine 3-0 home win over struggling Bobruichanka, which easily could have been by a far greater margin apart from some appalling finishing. In the end, goals from Shramovskaya, Kiyanka and Lobashova ensured Zorka remained in third place.

In the final game of the weekend, Vitebsk predictably recorded an easy 6-0 victory over hapless Gomel, who are still to score a goal. 33 year old ex-international midfielder Elena Buzinova gave an outstanding performance with two goals and generally looking a different class to the beginners from the basement side.