Despite Grobiņa leaving Jelgava with a 1-0 win and already marching their away win record from the entirety of the previous season, but Oskars Kļava showed little interest in celebrations. “We came for a point, or points,” he said. “I like the result, I do not like the way we got it.”
After the early goal, Kļava felt his side dropped too deep and played to protect the lead. “It looked like we scored and then played to hold on,” he said. “I did not ask for that, because that usually ends badly.” Grobiņa survived with “a little help from luck,” and while Jelgava did not force a stream of saves, “the ball was moving around there somewhere” often enough to keep the visitors uncomfortable.
Kļava still saw progress after the previous round. “Against Auda the performance was really poor. Today there was a step forward in stability,” he said. “Better to collect points in spring. Better to win with a bad game. That means we still have room to grow, to create more, not just score one and bury ourselves in defence.”
A large part of his post-match assessment centred on Grobiņa’s young back line and how it handled pressure. “The moment there is pressure, mistakes start, and they forget what they know,” Kļava said. “In training they can do everything, but under pressure it is all in the head.” He praised captain Družiņins for playing “steadily at his level” and said Leitāns had delivered a “great” run of three straight games, including two clean sheets. “Through games like this, through the meat grinder, they grow,” he said. “And if you win with a clean sheet, that is a very nice combination for a player.”
Jelgava coach Aleksandrs Basovs left with the opposite feeling: satisfied by long stretches of the display, frustrated by the scoreboard. “Maybe it was a good and beautiful game from our side, but a bad result,” he said. “We worked well with the ball, we had moments, but one mistake from one of our strongest players, then a good transition from the opponent, and a good finish.”
Basovs pointed to the second half, when Jelgava pressed, delivered crosses and loaded the box, but failed to turn pressure into goals. “We dominated,” he said. “There was pressing all the time, crosses all the time, set plays, two good chances. Filip Hašek can score one-on-one. Gļebs Žaleiko has an empty goal – it has to be a goal.” Set pieces remained a concern. “Attacking set plays are our problem for now,” he said. “We have to work on it.”
He also defended forward Rataj, who repeatedly drifted away from the centre-forward zone in search of the ball. “He is still finding his game,” Basovs said. “He had not played for half a year. But for me he has a very big work rate, he wins a lot of duels.”
