A penalty was enough to separate FK Grobiņa and SK Super Nova in a tight and largely uneventful match, with both coaches acknowledging afterwards that chances had been limited and quality was missing for long stretches of the game that, when all was said and done, catapulted Super Nova to 4th place – equal on points with defending Champions Riga FC.
Super Nova coach Maksims Rafaļskis said his team had not produced a strong display, but still valued the away win. “First of all, I would maybe like to apologise to the supporters, because the content of the match was quite poor,” he said. “There were not many chances and it was not a particularly interesting match. But for us it is important that we got those three points in this period, and that we still have room to improve. We hope we will do that. Grobiņa had a few moments, I think, and maybe we had a little luck with the penalty. Maybe we never really got into the match, but I want to thank the players, who worked until the end and got those three points.”
Rafaļskis said his side are still trying to improve several parts of their play as the season develops. “You always want to win, you always want to get three points and take the maximum,” he said. “Here we managed it, maybe without quality, but that was our objective when we came here. It is very important for the team and for confidence. We are still searching for our game. We need the boys not to be afraid, to play more with the ball, to communicate on the pitch, and to move more without the ball. Those are the three things we definitely need to improve.”
Grobiņa coach Oskars Kļava said he felt the match had been heading towards a 0-0 draw until one small episode changed everything. “It is a little unpleasant, because for me this was a draw match today,” he said. “Different small things decide matches. There was a forced substitution, and in those situations a player comes on at an important moment and has to deal with his area straight away. That is not easy. One small episode decided the whole match. For me, it should have ended 0-0.” He also gave a similar view of the overall level of the game. “The match was not watchable. It was messy and it felt like it would go on until the first mistake. A small detail decided it.”
Kļava nevertheless pointed to encouraging signs in his side, particularly in a defensive line that included three U-19 players. “There were no worries, because they had already played together and showed themselves well in winter,” he said. “It is good that they are playing and that they played normally, but they still have to grow. The quality has to improve. Gustavs [Leitans] has good attributes for a centre-back, Kriš [Rupeiks] has fantastic physical capacity and desire, and Saša [Molotkovs] already has experience, but all of them still need to improve with the ball and in their decision-making.”
Grobiņa will next face bottom of the table Ogre United on Monday, while Super Nova will host Riga FC the following day.
