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"These were our worst matches this season," gloomily admitted the head coach of "Ekranas" Virginijus Liubšys after the seventh round of the A Lyga matches press conference. In front of their own audience (over 800 people watched the match), Panevezys surprisingly struggled to snatch a victory with a score of 1-0 only in the second half of the second half after Vitalijus Kavaliauskas' goal. The match started with a persistent attack by Panevezys. Several Ekranas players - A.Kučys, G.Paulauskas, G.Tomkevičius, M.Savėnas - had perfect opportunities to score goals, but they failed to capitalize on the chances. It wasn't until the 78th minute, after a pass from Povilas Lukšys, that Vitalijus Kavaliauskas, who appeared on the field as a substitute, finally managed to score in the second half. He sent the ball into the Nevėžis' net with a strong shot and led his team to the 7th victory in the A Lyga championship. After the match, "Ekranas" coach Virginijus Liubšys admitted that these matches were the worst of the season, and his players began to play nervously unable to score against the opponents. "If we had taken advantage of all the opportunities and quickly scored the first goal, I think the situation on the field and the end result of the match would have been completely different. Seeing that the situation was becoming complicated and Ekranas could not break Nevėžis' defense, the guys started playing individually, they lost the teamwork, the attack was not successful. And Nevėžis defended as a whole team. Their young goalkeeper T. Jazokas played excellently a few times. It was a very nervous match, somewhat similar to the first match with Šilutė last year. Usually, after bad matches, the next ones are very successful for Ekranas, which we wish for this Saturday," hoped V.Liubšys. The mood was different for Nevėžis coach Vytautas Vaškūnas' assistant Vidmantas Urbonas, who was disqualified for an outburst at the referee. He said that for the league debutant and absolute outsider Nevėžis, these were the best matches so far. "These were the most successful matches for us in the A Lyga championship that started not so long ago. We must admit that the result is consistent with the course of the match. Ekranas is an experienced and formidable opponent, however, I believe we managed to motivate the team very well for these matches," said V.Urbonas. "We played exclusively defensively, the players performed their tasks quite well. Of course, there is still a lot we lack. The game in the A Lyga is significantly faster, and the physical preparation in the Nevėžis team is not yet at the level it should be. We evaluate our position and capabilities realistically, but we hope that we will not leave any points unearned in this championship." This Saturday, on May 7, "Ekranas" will host their main rival in the fight for the champions' title, FBK "Kaunas," at home. The match will start at 17:30."
