“If you’re afraid of the wolf, don’t go into the forest” — this Latvian saying was left behind in Valmiera as we headed to Mežaparks with confidence, courage, and a clear desire to defeat the “wolves” of Riga in our opening LVBET League match.
Just a day earlier, Gatis Kalniņš and his team were putting the finishing touches on a long pre-season. At the last moment, the squad was strengthened by the addition of French defender Lenny Manisa and the well-known defensive midfielder Artūrs Bērziņš. However, against Riga FC-2, the starting lineup consisted of players who had already been integrated during pre-season.
Riga’s reserves, featuring a couple of “high-profile” first-team players, began the match more confidently. In the 9th minute, Ukrainian Nazar Prudchenko skillfully broke through Valmiera’s defense and beat Haralds Kalniņš to make it 0–1.
As it turned out, this would be the hosts’ only moment of joy in the match. To be fair, with a bit more luck, they could have had more. But luck must be earned — and on this evening, it favored Valmiera. In the 25th minute, after a defensive mistake by the home side, the ball rolled kindly into the path of Rojs Bušs, who calmly finished to make it 1–1.
The remainder of the first half was a hard-fought battle, and the second half followed in the same spirit. At halftime, Kalniņš introduced Manisa in place of Ņikita Cepeļevs. The 22-year-old defender, who joined from Georgian club FC Dila Gori and has previously played for AEK Athens B, Parma Primavera, and Paris Saint-Germain U19, made a very confident debut. The same can be said for three other debutants — Japanese defensive midfielder Wataru Abe, Brazilian forward Gleilson, and Malian striker Mamadou Dembélé.
While Gleilson provided the assist for Bušs’ goal, it was Dembélé who scored the winner in the 53rd minute, finishing off a well-worked corner routine with a precise header from Bušs’ delivery — 2–1.
The final touch came in the very last seconds of the match, rewarding the loud and passionate Valmiera supporters in the stands. Abe won the ball high up the pitch, broke free, and calmly beat both his marker and the goalkeeper to make it 3–1.
After the match, several players and fans agreed that even more valuable than the victory itself was the fighting spirit and the manner in which the result was achieved. Hopefully, the team will show the same attitude in the next round against FC RFS-2 on Sunday, March 29 at 15:00 at LNK Sporta Parks.
See you at the match!
