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#413202 [FM17] Climbing Jacob's Ladder (Part Deux)
DNZY
MATCHDAY 23
Ah, the proverbial banana skin. It was clear that Trakai's approach was to target Pavlyukovich, hard tackled numerous times to have him hobbling off before half time. Once he was out of the equation, it evaporated our attacking threat and had them come in for the kill. Kancelskis broke the deadlock and a clumsy penalty gave way for Vejvoda to make it two. Kabura's breakaway clawed us back into it but Kancelskis tightened their grip again with an unstoppable hit. Arnas Zukauskas may have curled one in in injury time but there was no time to do a Suduva job on it. Unneeded setback.
RESULTS OVERVIEW
The European exit allowed us to focus on domestic duties, securing some impressive results before Trakai stopped it in it's tracks. Pavlyukovich was mighty this month after his dry spell, him and Burcă are looking like a perfect front two. Real improvements this month for Arnas Zukauskas and Alexandru Turdean as well.
LEAGUE TABLE
Ten games left and everything to play for, holding a firm four point lead ahead of Zalgiris. Suduva dropping off the face completely and are unlikely to compete. Two horse race?
SEPTEMBER 2043 SCHEDULE
Less intensive with only four games. The cup semi kicks it all off against FBK Kaunas for a potential historic first LFF taurė. Utenis are the appetiser for two big home games to Zalgiris and Suduva. 6 points from these three games is the aim.
#413200 [FM17] Climbing Jacob's Ladder (Part Deux)
DNZY
MATCHDAY 22
Speaking of Kaunas, our good friends of ZK continued to bow at our feet with another thumping win. It was back to the Pavlukovich of old, surpassing the 20 goal mark with an 18 minute hat-trick, destroying any hope of an upset for the home side. If ZK's day couldn't get any worse they'd be gravely mistaken, Zukauskas saving a penalty to keep our three goal margin. Conor McParland got in on the act too with a header at the near post from a corner for numero cuatro. Would have gotten very embarrassing if it weren't for their keeper denying us further glory.
#413199 [FM17] Climbing Jacob's Ladder (Part Deux)
DNZY
QUARTER FINAL
Semi finals booked! Had the same comfort as last year, Adrian Burcă again on cue. It was a stunner from Burcă to break Krazante's resistance, feeding off another long direct pass and blasted into the top corner from 18 yards. Pavlyukovich recaptured his goalscoring instincts to hone in on victory, before it was all but confirmed with an Abesadze penalty two minutes later. One step away from a cup final.
SEMI FINAL DRAW
The Kaunas derby reignites in what should be a gripping battle.
#413197 [FM17] Climbing Jacob's Ladder (Part Deux)
DNZY
MATCHDAY 21
I wonder if Pavel heard my concerns. He came racing out of the blocks and tore Lietava a new one. The warning signs were there for the visitors as Pavy did score after 4 minutes or so he thought, ruled out for offside. Didn't stop him from banging another in before 10 minutes elapsed. The task became a lot harder for the bottom side; a two footer from Arlauskis sent him off for an early bath. Pavlyukovich ran the show; finishing from a tight angle for a 2-0 half time lead, then let fly in the final ten with the best of the bunch for a classy hat-trick.
Back on fire.
Definitely need a bit of work on the chants though....
#413195 [FM17] Climbing Jacob's Ladder (Part Deux)
DNZY
MATCHDAY 20
Sickening, wanted to tear my hair off my dome after witnessing this. An early red card for Bobukh helped us gain a lot more adhesion to the game, and if that weren't bad enough for Atlantas - they lost one of their subs to injury and had used them all! Still, we failed to break the fourth wall against nine men. Adrian Burcă headed onto the crossbar from six yards out and Arnas Zukauskas brought an important save from their keeper but a stalemate is the final result. Goals for Pavlyukovich drying up too, none in eight games.
A point was good enough to confirm our spot in the Champions Playoff, not that it was ever in doubt.
#413194 [FM17] Climbing Jacob's Ladder (Part Deux)
DNZY
FOURTH ROUND
Didn't quite drop the Banga everyone expected us too, but made it through nonetheless. The Romanian connection between Turdean and goalscorer Adrian Burcă was a delight to behold, a 40 yard pass into Adrian's path to calmly seal the deal. Banga hit the post to keep it interesting and Burcă thought he made it two in injury time but the flag was raised for offside. We reach the quarter finals again.
QUARTER FINAL DRAW
Man, that's an original opponent...we meet with Krazante again in a cup run.
#413193 [FM17] Climbing Jacob's Ladder (Part Deux)
DNZY
THIRD QUALIFYING ROUND, SECOND LEG (AWAY)
European run comes to a grinding halt, no match for the clinical Vorskla. The power of the set piece ruined us; Bratkevych headed in from a free kick in the first half to scrap our gameplan further, Eugene Kozak from a corner put the game far beyond our control and a late goal from Tsarev (not technically a set piece) connected with a low cross. Kabura bulging the side netting is as close as we came, bowing out of Europe with a 4-0 aggregate defeat.
The payout is pretty good though.
#413180 [FM17] Climbing Jacob's Ladder (Part Deux)
DNZY
A LYGA
MATCHDAY 19
Massive win at the apex, pushing aside Suduva to widen the gap at the top. A year on after claiming his signature, Alexandru Turdean reached his landmark first goal for the club to start in positive light. It only got better from there with a red card for Suduva striker Lukosius, and on the stroke of half time another Romanian Ştefan Chiorescu had his free kick deflect off the wall and went in. The game fizzled out, but the result stayed with us. A big leap in the title race.
#412905 Dominating The World [FM18]
DNZY
#412903 [FM17] Climbing Jacob's Ladder (Part Deux)
DNZY
THIRD QUALIFYING ROUND, FIRST LEG (HOME)
A packed crowd saw us lock horns with Vorskla, falling short on the night. Alexandru Turdean can have no complaints in giving away a penalty on the stroke of half time; Maxym Bratkevych accurately finished. Did our best to escape with only one, they walloped the bar and brought an important save out of Zukauskas. Alas, a first leg defeat and have it all to do.
I say sellout, our stadium can barely hold 6,000.
RESULTS OVERVIEW
Europe dominated our month, progressing to the 3QR is a top feat for a club of our stature. The glaring defeat to Zalgiris needs to be corrected so we get our priorities straight once we exit the Europa League. A little fearful that we've not scored in three.
LEAGUE TABLE
The only positive from the Zalgiris defeat is that Suduva have been in dire straits lately, moving us three points clear. The downside is that Zalgiris and Atlantas are opening their jaws and hope to swallow us whole.
AUGUST 2043 SCHEDULE
Speak of the devil, Suduva next in line in another jam packed list of fixtures. The away leg to Vorskla and the LFF taurė encounter with Banga I may sacrifice to get the most out of our league performances. Atlantas also could be a caveat before some easy enough games, ending with Trakai. The question is will we still be in a title bout by that stage?
#412898 [FM17] Climbing Jacob's Ladder (Part Deux)
DNZY
MATCHDAY 18
The Europa League hangover in full effect, mauled by a scarily good Zalgiris side. Three goals in four minutes did the damage as Rrapaj and Klimavicius fed on our rotting corpse, both picking up braces. Four absolutely flattered us as it could've reached double figures we were that displaced. At least it's all over now.
#412891 [FM17] Climbing Jacob's Ladder (Part Deux)
DNZY
SECOND QUALIFYING ROUND, SECOND LEG (HOME)
Not proud to say that we parked the bus in the second leg, blockading our visitors in a snorefest. Frankly the defensive mentality might have been redundant, CSKA were brutal over both legs and had nothing to offer at our ground. An historic day for the club though as they've reached the third qualifying round for the first time.
I honestly wouldn't blame them if they wanted their money back.
THIRD QUALIFYING ROUND DRAW
Keeping the Eastern European theme as Ukraine side Vorskla are next on the menu.
#412885 [FM17] Climbing Jacob's Ladder (Part Deux)
DNZY
MATCHDAY 17
Focus returned to the league a few days later, securing a narrow win over Utenis to remain top. Olivier Kabura's early strike the difference in a game that lacked any sort of conviction from that point onwards.
#412883 [FM17] Climbing Jacob's Ladder (Part Deux)
DNZY
SECOND QUALIFYING ROUND, FIRST LEG (AWAY)
Big result away from home. CSKA Sofia were imprudent at times, few risky passes gave us an outlet and one too many led to Pavlyukovich firing in a vital away goal. Adrian Burcă should have made it too but his header fell agonisingly wide of goal. That's when the Bulgarians sucker punched us with Ivan Stoyanov out of nowhere to balance the tie. We looked far more likely to score so we'll feel a little aggrieved that only a point was taken.
#412881 [FM17] Climbing Jacob's Ladder (Part Deux)
DNZY
FIRST QUALIFYING ROUND, SECOND LEG (AWAY)
Job done. Kept the home side quiet in every department and made chances count to safely advance. Chiorescu rifled in an early free kick and Zukauskas ploughed home from a Birskys inswinger. Rather poor game compared to the first leg, but we don't mind.
Well needed profit into the kitty.
SECOND QUALIFYING ROUND DRAW
Sofia calling as we set sights for Bulgaria in the next phase.
#412879 [FM17] Climbing Jacob's Ladder (Part Deux)
DNZY
@Dan - Haha stop I know, couldn't believe it myself! Hopefully we'll push on for a title challenge.
___________________________________________
UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE
FIRST QUALIFYING ROUND, FIRST LEG (HOME)
Good entertainment and a win to add, though concern about Flora nabbing two away goals. Despite letting in a soft opener, Adrian Burcă turned up in style being the fox in the box to grab two goals in nine minutes to take control. Flora missed an open goal to level the game and were punished with Arnas Zukauskas stretching the lead on the night. The Estonians did pull back, again a soft one we had to Pikk out of our net. Return leg in Tallinn should be interesting.
#412877 Dominating The World [FM18]
DNZY
#412669 [FM17] Climbing Jacob's Ladder (Part Deux)
DNZY
MATCHDAY 16
Fought hard and earned a valuable win at Trakai to somehow make it to the league summit. Two quickfire goals from Tarasevich and immediately countered their kickoff to get Adrian Burcă back on the scoresheet. Arnas Zukauskas couldn't believe he'd been denied from four yards out to perhaps tighten our grip further; instead an old friend, Mantas Zutautas headed Trakai back into the game. Didn't take too long into the second half to rinse our bogey side, Chiorescu returned to the goals for 3-1. Another unfortunate o.g. for McParland had us get a case of déjà vu from the Suduva draw but saw this one out to our relief.
RESULTS OVERVIEW
100% win ratio is a nice change. Pavvy still has the lethal touch when required, though a number of others chimed in.
LEAGUE TABLE
Polar opposite months for us and Suduva, two wins came our way while Suduva lost twice in succession to usurp them in the standings. Four clear of Zalgiris and five ahead on Atlantas. Things getting tasty midway through the season.
JULY 2043 SCHEDULE
Only two games in the league coming up, Utenis and Zalgiris definitely won't be easy. And yes I know, I'm disregarding the obvious all before that.
UEFA EUROPA LEAGUE
FIRST QUALIFYING ROUND
Not far to travel, just across to our noisy neighbours Estonia to do battle with Flora Tallinn (a former CJL team in FM16 if you recall).
#412666 [FM17] Climbing Jacob's Ladder (Part Deux)
DNZY
THIRD ROUND
A fun game for the neutrals, not for those in the dugouts. Seven changes to the team, drafting in two of last year's youth intake - one of them made it onto the scoresheet. A welcome return to Matulevicius heading in his first goal in a Stumbras kit again, but pegged back with an equaliser on the half hour. Didn't take long to restore the advantage, Rolandas Cesnauskis made a wave with a debut goal and Pavlyukovich looked to have buried them. Golubovic in goal let Panevezys back into the game with a flimsy 'save' and before you know it the minnows drew level in the last ten minutes from a corner. Breaking a bit of sweat we avoided extra time, Arnas Zukauskas at the second bite of the cherry won it for us heading into injury time. Unconvincing; questions to be asked about squad depth.
FOURTH ROUND DRAW
Looking forward to dropping a Banga in Gargzdai.
#412663 [FM17] Climbing Jacob's Ladder (Part Deux)
DNZY
A LYGA
MATCHDAY 15
It's almost a guarantee that we win against ZK and continued that trend here. Conor McParland amongst the goals again as he took penalty duties from the suspended Abesadze, keeper guessed right but the shot was too accurate. None other than Pavlyukovich doubled our joy, despite a hint of offside managed to touch it home. Kabura perhaps could've made it three but he's a post magnet at present. ZK didn't test Zukauskas once.
#412635 [FM17] Climbing Jacob's Ladder (Part Deux)
DNZY
MATCHDAY 14
Oh God, here we go again. Failed to convert anything which later gave us our comeuppance in the game. Atlantas were definitely woodwork happy, denied three times by it but bided their time to catch us in a snare. A wonderful 25 yard free kick did the damage, Ernestas Dambrauskas the perpetrator of that filth. The summer is coming, hope it will blow away these grey clouds in our form.
RESULTS OVERVIEW
Looking agitated from recent form, undefeated in twelve to pick up two defeats in the same month. If it weren't for Pavvy and Burcă rallying in goals lately, it would have been a lot worse. We've not looked solid defensively so far this season with a lack of clean sheets (apart from Lietava of course, but they're bottom of the table for a good reason).
LEAGUE TABLE
Suduva stamping their authority right now, stretching further ahead with a five point gap. The good news is that Zalgiris are wobbling a bit too and don't overtake us, but other sides are slowly getting to grips and hunting us down.
JUNE 2043 SCHEDULE
A more fixture friendly month coming up, starting with a 'must-win' against Zalgiris Kaunas and a tricky away day to Trakai who'll no doubt will cause problems; the LFF taurė resumes for another season inbetween that as we enter into the hat for the third round.
LFF TAURĖ
THIRD ROUND DRAW
First up, FK Panevezys from the 1.Lyga.
#412628 [FM17] Climbing Jacob's Ladder (Part Deux)
DNZY
MATCHDAY 13
Mass rotation helped us forget last week's woes and coast to victory at Lietava. Doesn't seem to matter who partners Pavlyukovich these days because he's the vertex of the side for scoring goals, Kabura the architect for his 11th of the season. The favour was returned to Kabura less than a minute into the second half, glaring defensive error certainly made life easier for Pavvy to cross into Kabura to put it beyond doubt. Special mention to MotM Abesadze too, mopped up everything that Lietava threw at us.
#412624 [FM17] Climbing Jacob's Ladder (Part Deux)
DNZY
MATCHDAY 12
Always, always, ALWAYS play to the final whistle. Suduva were no great shakes and yet they fought back after some dazzling partnering work up top by Pavlyukovich who opened it up and set up Burcă with a delicious second, some proper chemistry there. With three minutes of added time, it looked like we just downed tools; first Djurdjek heading in from a corner (a cheap goal that we let slide) followed by Lukosius stabbing home almost simultaneously (combo of wasteful possession and feeble defending). We will absolutely rue this game if it comes back to bite us in the ass.
#412619 [FM17] Climbing Jacob's Ladder (Part Deux)
DNZY
MATCHDAY 11
Curse of the commenter. Zalgiris ruin our supreme start in a game they showed their superiority of old. Ruthless pressure had us crack like an egg, exposed for a cross and Klimavicius said thank you very much. The same man nearly made it two at the break but for a wonderful reflex save onto the post. Positive vibes circulated and Burcă made it three in three, latching onto a heavy Pavlyukovich pass. Zukauskas saved again from Klimavicius to keep the parity but it came for nothing when McParland was ballwatching in the buildup, the move finished off by an Amar Alic dagger low and hard into the bottom right corner. Commiserations, we go again against Suduva next.
#412618 [FM17] Climbing Jacob's Ladder (Part Deux)
DNZY
A LYGA
MATCHDAY 10
And that's us into double figures for unbeaten games this season, yet again making it hard for ourselves as we battled for victory. A bit of goalkeeping absurdity from Zukauskas had us behind at the break, possibly too much spin because he ended up pushing it into the corner of the net. Pavel Pavlyukovich scored last time against Utenis and continued in that fashion, hitting the crossbar in the first half but made no mistake in connecting with Adrian Burcă's cross. Speaking of Burcă, he's definitely on the rise with the winning goal of the game, seamlessly taking two defenders out of the game and with all the time and space placed his shot well away from the keeper.
Twelve undefeated carrying from last season, who'll be the first to take us down?
#412531 [FM17] Climbing Jacob's Ladder (Part Deux)
DNZY
MATCHDAY 9
Talk about a sterling way to end the month, mopping the floor with Trakai after previously no win in eight against them. Pavlyukovich punished simple mistakes at the rearguard to tuck away back to back braces. Pavvy also helped a first goal of the season for Adrian Burcă who composed himself brilliantly. It went from bad to worse when Czech lummox Pert Zavadil received another red card in this fixture, shortly before an own goal from Vidas Poskus truly destroyed their self belief. Such a tame Trakai side compared to what we've faced in the past.
RESULTS OVERVIEW
Perpetual momentum leaves us unstoppable at present. From four draws in a row to four wins. Pavlyukovich just can't stop scoring.
LEAGUE TABLE
We may be unbeaten, but one side stands in our way - Suduva. Zalgiris definitely amongst the front runners too. Already building a mini gap to fourth.
MAY 2043 FIXTURES
Evenly spread out month with two key fixtures in the middle, facing Zalgiris and Suduva at home. Next up though is a banana peel in Utenis.
#412528 [FM17] Climbing Jacob's Ladder (Part Deux)
DNZY
MATCHDAY 8
Pressure does pay off if you have the right man up front. Pavlyukovich saving our skins yet again with a late flurry to turn it around against rivals Zalgiris Kaunas. In typical 'us' fashion we fell behind, left Nikolai Popov too exposed from a cross and easily tapped it home. Kabura came close to restoring parity but for a good stop from ZK keeper Gvildys. Their resistance eventually gave way with Pavlyukovich using sheer power to drive two goals home in 11 minutes and deservedly take what's ours.
One setback saw Zutautas getting tangled in a challenge to be ruled out for a number of days.
#412527 [FM17] Climbing Jacob's Ladder (Part Deux)
DNZY
Some interesting news broke before the Atlantas game, our Belorussian CB Tarasevich now a Lithuanian citizen. Why is this important? We've been killed by the foreign players rule and now have one less in the team!
A LYGA
MATCHDAY 7
Breathless game, how it only ended 1-0 I do not know... Atlantas will feel very hard done by, but Raimondas Zukauskas brought off two important saves to keep them out. It was a goalkeeping error at the other end that led to the only goal, an in-swinging cross gave Kabura the leverage over the outcoming keeper to apply the single touch necessary to take it away from him and roll into the back of the net. Defensively structured in the second half, we ousted the seahorses pressure to continue our unbeaten start to the season.
#412526 [FM17] Climbing Jacob's Ladder (Part Deux)
DNZY
MATCHDAY 6
Finally we were off a leash and mauling newly promoted Lietava in one way traffic. Ştefan Chiorescu curled in a free kick for the only goal in a rugged first half but the floodgates opened as the second half began. A proud moment for 19 year old Martynas Malinauskas, the backup option for Arnas Zukauskas and now penalty taker as he made no mistake in converting from 12 yards. Pavel Pavlyukovich fed off crosses the entire game, wonderful off the ball movement in finishing number 3 and 4 to put the game to bed.
#412524 [FM17] Climbing Jacob's Ladder (Part Deux)
DNZY
The month didn't start off too fresh. Zukauskas missing a sizeable portion of the season.
A LYGA
MATCHDAY 5
Seriously? A fourth straight 1-1 draw? Another game we salvaged from behind too, foolishly allowing Vladimir Skocibusic (arguably the best right winger in the league) to poke Suduva in front with a tight angled finish. Olivier Kabura extinguished that advantage before the break, a strong right boot from the edge of the area had the keeper scrambling. Second half we were pinned against a hard surface, the Slovakian bottlejob Tomas Cicman missing two sitters to let us off the hook.