© „Gintra“
The „Gintra“ team from Šiauliai started the 2023 season with a victory. In the Baltic Women's Football League (BWFL), the Gintreites at home defeated the Latvian champions SFK „Rīga“ 1:0 (0:0).
Match recording on the futbolas.tv platform
The teams had to play in very unpleasant weather conditions, with brutally low temperatures. The game started more actively with the renewed Lithuanian champions. Juliet Sunday successfully broke through the opponent's defense on the left side. The opponent's defenders or goalkeeper would block her shots, and sharp passes got stuck in the congested opponent's defense.
One of the best chances to score and put the team ahead in the first half belonged to Juliet Bassey. After a set-piece, the African's shot was saved excellently by the SFK „Rīga“ goalkeeper. A few minutes later, after an impressive combination between Meida Prosevičiūtė and Marija Galkina, Neda Klezaitė had a chance, but her shot was once again denied by the goalkeeper.
After taking advantage of Gintra's mistakes, the Riga players tried to counterattack, but all their attempts were successfully thwarted by the reliable defenders and goalkeeper Aušrė Bikutė. The first half ended goalless for both teams.
From the very beginning of the second half, the „Gintra“ players started putting pressure on their opponents in their half. After a few good minutes of play, J. Sunday had a good chance to open the scoring this season, but her shot missed narrowly. Nonetheless, J. Sunday managed to break the deadlock. The forward cleverly scored in the 66th minute to put the team ahead 1:0.
During the remaining 20 minutes or so, the hosts created several more dangerous situations in front of the visitors' goal, but they failed to send the ball into the net. The Gintreites secured their first victory of the season in the Baltic League and earned three points in the standings.
In the second half, Gintarė Raznauskaitė appeared on the field, replacing Neda Klezaitė, while Santa Lichareva took Meida Proscevičiūtė's place.
FK „Gintra“ lineup: A. Bikutė, T. Romanovskaja, A. Mikutaitė, A. Sunday, L. Kubiliūtė, E. Šupelytė, M. Galkina, J. Bassey, N. Klezaitė (50 min. G. Raznauskaitė), J. Sunday, M. Proscevičiūtė (67′ min. S. Lichareva).
