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After the last round of the NFKA "A Lyga" two weeks ago, the head coach of Marijampolė's "Sūduva", Algimantas Gabrys, presented his review of the past season on the official team website. This year's championship has significantly changed compared to previous ones. Firstly, the level of the championship has increased, as clubs are becoming financially stronger, and most of the matches were played especially intensively until the end of the season. Comparing the past championship and this year's tournament tables, significant changes are visible. Before the championship, most clubs nurtured the idea of a prize place, which would give them the right to participate in European club team tournaments. If the battle for the champion's title was between "Ekranas" and FBK "Kaunas," then for the bronze - all the remaining teams, except for "Nevėžis". That Panevėžys "Ekranas" interrupted FBK "Kaunas" six-year reign, I wouldn't call a surprise, but it's surprising that "Ekranas," becoming the leader from the beginning of the championship, maintained their position until the end of the season, leaving only theoretical possibilities for FBK "Kaunas" to get closer to a prize place. The team professionally implemented their nurtured goal. The competition for bronze medals was more intense and varied than ever. The winners were decided in the last matches of the championship. After enduring a marathon of tense matches, securing two important victories in the last rounds and surpassing Vilnius' "Vėtra" by two points, "Sūduva" won the third place. After a long break, a team from a smaller city won a prize place. Many consider this a sensation or even a surprise, but after two rounds of the championship, "Sūduva" firmly established itself in the fourth place and waited for the right moment in the finish to surpass Vilnius' "Vėtra". In addition, for many years the "Sūduva" team was considered a strong middle-of-the-road team. High goals set before the season forced the team to strengthen. The team was reinforced with experienced players D.Maciulevičius, O.Braga, D.Gvildžius, A.Veikutis, goalkeepers G.Padimanskis, V.Žutautas coming to play. Excellent working conditions were provided. Of course, after an unsuccessful first round of the championship, many skeptics appeared, not believing in the success of "Sūduva". The results of the first round were not very pleasant: 2 wins, 3 draws, and 4 losses. The championship schedule was definitely unfavorable for "Sūduva." The first three matches against last year's winners on their fields - three losses. This psychologically disturbed the team's rhythm of play, the players gained a lack of confidence in their abilities, and relations between coach and players became tense. A victory was needed for the players to recover psychologically. After defeating "Atlantas" at the beginning of the second round, "Sūduva" gained momentum. In the second round, they collected 18 points, achieved 5 victories, played 3 draws, and lost only once. Goal-scoring improved based on points gained. After two rounds, "Sūduva" had collected 27 points, achieved 7 victories, played 6 draws, lost 5 times, and the goal difference of 29-20 bumped them up to third place, lagging behind "Vėtra", "Atlantas", "Vilnius" teams. On FK "Sūduva" website, I mentioned in my interview that in the second half of the championship, the battle for bronze would be very tense and varied. The third round was not very successful for us, as the schedule was made with breaks between rounds, friendly matches were missing during breaks, and player injuries affected us. In the third round, "Sūduva" collected 13 points, achieved 3 victories, played 4 draws, and 2 losses with a goal difference of 14-9. We lost planned points playing in Šilutė and at home against "Šiauliai", but we stayed at the top of the tournament table. The game started to improve, which gave hope for the final stage. The losses to "Ekranas" and "Kaunas" in the fourth round were like a cold shower, but the team recovered and, after achieving 6 victories, playing 1 draw, experiencing 2 losses, collected 19 points, and a goal difference of 22-13. In the fourth round, there was a truly intense battle for the bronze medals - tense matches with Vilnius' "Vilnius", Šilutė's "Šilutė", Vilnius' "Vėtra", Vilnius' "Žalgiris", but "Sūduva" passed this exam honorably. With 59 points, 16 victories, 11 draws, 9 losses, and a goal difference of 67-43, the team won the third prize place and secured a ticket to the UEFA Europa League. Everyone who believed in success contributed to this historic victory, starting with club president Vidmantas Murauskas and ending with the twelfth player - our amazing team supporters. Great respect to the team players who passed this difficult exam, more or less contributing to the goal. I present some statistical figures: Most matches played: Darius Gvildys - 36 matches Tomas Radzinevičius - 36 matches Darius Maciulevičius - 34 matches Audrius Veikutis - 33 matches Mantas Uselis - 33 matches Viktor Afanasenka - 32 matches David Čigladzė - 31 matches Saulius Butkus - 30 matches Players who scored the most goals: (11 players scored goals, 3 opponents scored in their own goal) Tomas Radzinevičius - 25 goals (2nd result in A Lyga) Darius Maciulevičius - 10 goals Otavio Braga - 8 goals Mantas Uselis - 8 goals Gvidas Grigas - 4 goals Audrius Veikutis - 2 goals Saulius Butkus - 2 goals Viktor Afanasenko - 2 goals Most valuable players (rated by the head coach): Tomas Radzinevičius - 198 points Audrius Veikutis - 177 points Darius Gvildys - 176 points Darius Maciulevičius - 172 points David Čigladzė - 168 points Mantas Uselis - 161 points Cards (yellow, red): David Čigladzė - 6 yellow Saulius Butkus - 5 yellow Mantas Uselis - 4 yellow Besik Čigladzė - 3 yellow + 1 red Darius Gvildys - 3 yellow Audrius Veikutis - 3 yellow Tomas Radzinevičius - 3 yellow Darius Maciulevičius - 3 yellow Gvidas Grigas - 3 yellow Giedrius Klevinskas - 3 yellow
