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Panevėžio "Ekrano" head coach Saulius Širmelis was delighted after Saturday's last-minute 2-1 victory at home against "Šiauliai", not only for the win but also for his team.
"There have been games where we were in the lead and couldn't hold on for the last minute. Today we were lucky. It's very rare to have the opportunity to score a decisive goal in the last attack and win. That's football," the coach said.
The strategist of Panevėžys agreed with the "Šiauliai" coach that the match was intense and entertaining for the spectators. "Such defeats are the most painful, while victories are the most memorable. Therefore, I think the spectators, especially from Panevėžys, should not be disappointed with the outcome of the match."
S.Širmelis praised the "Šiauliai" team, saying, "I'm glad that a team like 'Šiauliai' has emerged, which is being built correctly from the ground up. They strive to play each game with no compromises and aim only for victories."
The coach admitted that Panevėžys was lucky today, but he believes that in the future, the "Šiauliai" team will definitely help the "Ekranas" team with their victories, taking points away from their closest opponents: "So as always, I look optimistically at the future of both our team and the 'Šiauliai' team."
According to the Ekranas strategist, these matches were greatly missing Giedrius Tomkevičius, who suffered an injury during training. "We were forced to play with two attacking midfielders, so the opponents had a quantitative advantage in the middle," Širmelis pointed out.
"We didn't always manage to stop the opponents' attacks in the middle of the field. We could only rely on defenders, and a few times it was close to backfiring when they failed to complete their tasks," the strategist explained. "I hope Giedrius will be able to join the team on Tuesday, and if not, we will try to find other options for the game in the middle of the field."
The coach had no complaints for Dominykas Galkevičius, who played in an unusual position in this match. "He really did everything he could. Maybe he made a mistake a few times, but everyone makes mistakes. We make mistakes, the players make mistakes. If we did nothing, we probably wouldn't make a mistake, but you can't stand still."
Saulius Širmelis acknowledged that this season the team greatly missed the goals scored by Manta Savėnas and Povilas Lukšys. "It's great that after being 'quiet' for seven to eight rounds, they finally found their game."
The coach believes that the tactic of sending P. Lukšys in only in the second half, when the opponents are a bit tired and he is fresher and successfully attacks the opponents' goal, has proven itself. "This is the second game where we have successfully used this strategy: against 'Inter' there was a breakthrough, and today, probably there is no need to say - at the most suitable time."
This year, having become the head coach of "Ekranas", Saulius Širmelis sincerely thanked his players for their great determination and willingness to fight until the end: "After all, victories are snatched when you play until the last second of the match."
