October 4, Lepel /Own. inf./. The football team of Lepel district "Yunatsva" of the senior age group (boys born in 1996-1997) returned from Grodno, where they played in the republican final of the tournament for the prizes of the Presidential Sports Club "Leather Ball".
The first game "Yunatsva" played against Minsk "Tornado". The boys performed excellently, winning with a score of 6:1. The next game was against Belynichi. Lepel players won cleanly 2:0.
By the last game in the subgroup against Molodechno, the total score of goals scored and conceded was 8:1 in our favour. Molodechno players also played their games successfully, their total score was 9:2. Thus, the goal difference for the teams was the same – plus seven. However, Molodechno had an advantage – in the overall standings, they scored one more goal, so in the game against them, Lepel players needed only a victory. Even a draw would have knocked "Yunatsva" out of the contention for the tournament's gold medals.
While preparing the game strategy against the Molodechno team, coaches Viktor Matyushenko and Alexanderpritsker made a risky decision to commit all forces to the attack. In the first minutes of the match, this tactic brought success, left winger midfielder Zhenya Mikhno scored the first goal. The opponent chose a defensive strategy, tied up our attacks in their half of the field and counter-attacked themselves. The final score of that match was 3:1.
As a result, the footballers from Molodechno played against the team of Baranovichi district of Brest region for first place. That match ended with a victory for the Baranovichi footballers. Lepel players, on the other hand, competed for the bronze medals against "Partizan" of Minsk. On the eve of the game, the coaches drew conclusions from the previous loss and настроили the boys for organised team play. As a result, "Yunatsva" won with a score of 5:1 and became the bronze prize-winner of the championship.