© EuroFootball.com
On Wednesday last year, the team that finished eighth in the "A League" played their first friendly pre-season match. The duel in Latvia against the reigning Latvian champions from the previous season, the "Ventspils" club, ended goalless.
"Ventspils" 0 - 0 "Šiauliai"
"Šiauliai" lineup: Lukovičs (46` G.Arlauskis); Oriol (46` Žukauskas), Strockis, Lunskis (60` Pšelenskis), Lapeikis; Butavičius (46` P.Šidlauskas), Juodeikis, D.Arlauskis (46` Lukoševičius), Šilėnas (46` A.Garuckas), Timinskas (46` Kuklys); Viktoravičius (46` Martinkėnas (67` Kišla (83`Butavičius)));
Throughout most of the match, the Šiauliai team had the initiative and controlled the game, but despite creating many chances, they lacked luck when it came to scoring goals.
The first real opportunity in the match was created by "Šiauliai" when early in the first half after a corner kick, the ball was headed by Deividas Lunskis, shaking the opponents' goalpost. Later, Gediminas Timinskas participated in a dangerous header during the review.
In the second half, the young Dalius Kišla missed a good opportunity, failing to hit from a sharp angle. Opportunities were also missed by sixteen-year-old Julius Martinkėnas and veteran Gintaras Juodeikis, but perhaps the most realistic chance in the second half was missed by the young Mantas Kuklys, who missed a free shot towards the unguarded goal from the penalty area line.
Meanwhile, "Ventspils" did not create any serious chances throughout the match.
"I am satisfied with our first match. It is evident that all players have missed football," said "Šiauliai" coach Darius Magdišauskas, for whom this was his debut at the team's helm. - On the field, all players followed my instructions. It's a shame we lacked luck in scoring from fairly comfortable positions."
"Although the "Ventspils" coaches said that several key players were unable to play in the team, this does not diminish our achieved result," said D.Magdišauskas. - We dominated on the field and were certainly deserving of the win.
"Šiauliai" did not have M.Valys and V.Tarasovas playing in these matches due to illness, as well as Nigerian legionary Amaro Atigbiolaye.
