Cyprus College 1-6 Ararat
The season opener began with a shock for the reigning champions as Cyprus College managed to get behind a very flat defence to open the score through Paris Daggas. One nil behind the champions looked to last seasons top scorer Giorgi Totladze to level things up and within a few minutes a fantastic throw from goalkeeper Vassos Kyprianou saw the MVP from last season Jack Papadopoulos delightfully chip the oncoming goalkeeper to put the away side ahead. After that it appeared to be mainly a formality for Ararat and their lead was reinforced right before the break as two quick fire goals from new signing Zoltan Mihaly saw Ararat take a commanding lead into the half time break.
Cyprus College were now left with a mountain to climb in the 2nd half but that didn’t deter the home side and if not for some world class goal keeping from Vassos Kyprianou the score could have been closer. The home side were left to rue their missed chances when Sergo Nazaretian got his first of the season to extend the score to 5-1 and not long after Lorand Szocs scored a great goal from a corner set-piece. Both sides created plenty of chances and had it not been for both Vassos Kyprianou in the Ararat goal and Christos Zenonos in the Cyprus College goal we could have seen a much larger scoreline.


AEL Limassol 3-2 SPE Strovolou
The 2nd game of the day saw two teams who could be battling for 4th place this season playing out a terrific high tempo game with both teams playing good futsal and contributing to a great game for the neutral. It was always going to be a tough game for SPE playing away in Limassol as AEL have a large following and they didn’t make the best start going behind 2-0 to goals from Pambos Demetriou and Thasos Antoniades. SPE managed to pull one back through Constantinos Kouloumbris and pushed for an equalizer only to find Athos Evripidou in the AEL goal on great form. That’s not to say that AEL didn’t create any chances of their and had it not been for the great goalkeeping of Angelos Sakkas in the SPE goal the away side would have been out of the game completely. Despite all of his good work Sakkas was beaten for a third time by Thasos Antoniades to make the score 3-1 but it wasn’t the end of SPE. With minutes to go Arty Kolesnikovs reduced the arrears to 3-2 which set the game up for a grandstand finish. It wasn’t enough though in the end for SPE as they returned to Strovolos empty handed but it was a performance that they could take heart from. AEL will be happy to take 3 points from their first game ever in the top flight and will be hoping to build on that.


PAEEK Asteras 3-1 APOK (University Of Cyprus)
In the last of Thursday’s games PAEEK Asteras played hosts to the weakest side in the division but as we all know football (and futsal) is a funny old game. Asteras would have to be on their game from start to finish to open up the season with a victory. Philipos Konstantinou opened the scoring for the home side after a sustained amount of pressing but a second goal wasn’t coming and the Asteras players grew frustrated. That frustration turned to disbelief when APOK equalized through Marios Kalozois after a goal mouth scramble. After a sustained amount of pressure though the University’s defence couldn’t hold out any longer and Asteras re-took the lead through former Omonoia Nicosia’s Andreas Charalambous. Asteras continued to press and Philipos Konstantinou got his 2nd of the day to finish the game off at 3-1 to the home side. Not as convincing as score as they had hoped for Asteras neither was it indicative of the play but 3 valuable points nonetheless.


Parnassos Strovolou 3-4 Omonoia Nicosia
The big derby game on Friday saw the spoils deservedly head to Omonoia after a very hard fought game that was full of controversy. Omonoia started the game off pressing their opponent deep into their own half and that pressure told when Victor Marinho scored on his debut. Parnassos looked like they were in shock, hardly able to put more than 3-4 passes together. Parnassos though are an experienced team full of players that have been there and done that and managed to haul themselves back into the game through Giorgos Giorgiou after he took advantage of goalkeeper Tassos Skambilis being a yard off his line. Controversy was to follow though as after giving the ball away sloppily at the back Parnassos were put under pressure and new signing Lambros Vassiliou appeared to claw the ball away from the oncoming Omonoia player with hand as the ball was loose in the area. The referee spotted this but only gave the former GC School captain a yellow card when all of the Omonoia bench and players were convinced he should have seen red. Another Omonoia debutant, Carlinhos Lisboa dispatched the penalty and Omonoia took the lead again. It was a physical game and soon both teams had reached the 5 foul mark but again it was the refereeing that was called into question as Rodolfo Santos stole the ball and was clean through on goal only to be held back by the already cautioned Lambros Vassiliou. The referee gave the foul which resulted in a 10 metre penalty for the away side but failed to book Vassiliou but this time Omonoia failed to capitalize. It appeared that the first half was going to end 2-1 to Omonoia but what happened next will serve as a lesson to all those watching who are not aware of the rules. With 19:58 gone in the first half Parnassos’ keeper Christos Andoniou cleared the ball up field more in hope than anything else and as the buzzer sounded Omonoia’s goalkeeper left the ball thinking the half had ended. The Omonoia players were left astounded as the referee proceeded in telling them that the goal counted according to the new regulations. Omonoia would now have to lift themselves at the break after suffering such a hammer blow but within 10 seconds of the restart Andrey Aleksejev gave them the lead again. Parnassos were shell-shocked and it took them a while to gather themselves again. The referees again were called into action as Giorgos Giorgiou of Parnassos was pulled down last man by Omonoia’s captain Manolis Manoli. Manoli who had been booked already in the first half got his marching orders and Omonoia were reduced to 4 players for the next 2 minutes. To their credit they managed to withstand Parnassos’ attacks for those 2 minutes and as is the case usually when you can’t score you get punished. After some sloppy play again at the back from Parnassos gave the ball away to Rodolfo Santos the Brazilian obliged and put Omonoia into a 2 goal lead. To their credit Parnassos didn’t change their game plan and persisted in playing the game the correct way and with 2 minutes left on the clock managed to reduce the score to 4-3 through their Moldovan Alexei Mondea after the Omonoia defence turned off. It was too little too late for Parnassos and it would have possibly been more than they deserved on the day as Karol Costanian’s men came out on top and will undoubtedly take great confidence from a very tough first away game of the season.


Leivadiakos 4-4 Achilleas Kaimakliou
In the final game of the round Leivadiakos and Achilleas played out a dramatic game which saw a share of the spoils to both sides but a point that Achilleas felt should have been 3 after leading 3-0 and 4-1. The guests took the lead early on when a fierce strike from Christos Christodoulou saw them take the lead. That lead was extended by George Kentis and further extended by the new Spaniard Jose Baena. It was at this point that the game began to turn when Achilleas’ new signing from Ararat, Konstantinos Poliviou was given his 2nd yellow card. The home side replied through their own Christos Christodoulou before a 10 metre penalty by Achilleas’ Christos Christodoulou made 4-1.
This woke the hosts from their slumber as a number of sustained attacks helped them reduce the score to 3-4 through two goals from Demetris Soulas. Leivadiakos found Achilleas’ goalkeeper Giorgos Christophi in formidable form between the sticks and had it not been for his heroics the home side would have surely taken all 3 points. However Christophi was unable to stop a 3rd 10 metre penalty from Leivadiakos as Christos Christophorou equalized late. Achilleas could have taken home all 3 points as they missed two 10 metre penalties of their own with the score at 4-4


Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com