Gorbunov strikes three in Privolzhie rout

Alexandr Gorbunov scored a hat-trick and captain Ilya Egorov weighed in with two as Privolzhie AMA inflicted a ruthless defeat on Bratislava AMA which was ultimately to no avail.

Second-place finish
After Gorbunov's penalty on the cusp of half-time, Privolzhie ran riot after the break. Egorov fired in the second after 65 minutes and struck again eleven minutes later, either side of 73rd and 81st-minute headers by Gorbunov. While Gorbunov can celebrate being at the top of the final tournament scoring charts on four, Privolzhie have to console themselves with the runners-up spot in Group A due to Oltenia AMA's draw with Centre Zagreb AMA.

Slick surface
The rain which had affected north-west Croatia in the hours before kick-off ensured a greasy surface and an open start with Rinat Khaliulla forcing Andrej Mundi into a smart save after eleven minutes. The Bratislava No1 impressed in his first two group appearances and he was called into action again when he first parried Khaliulla's effort and then thwarted Gorbunov on the rebound.

Spot-on Gorbunov
At the other end, Privolzhie goalkeeper Victor Konoplev was quick off his line to clear from Matúš Matejčík as the tempo began to increase. However, just when the half seemed set to end goalless, Gorbunov sent Mundi the wrong way from the spot after Juraj Šašík halted Alexei Pasechnik's strong run into the area.

Heading ability
Having conceded at the end of the first half, Bratislava almost restored parity within a minute of the second when Frantisek Pesl stabbed Dusan Vangel's cross wide. That miss was to prove pivotal as Privolzhie clinically put the game beyond their opponents. First, Nikolay Yashin's cross deflected up nicely for Egorov to finish and then Gorbunov headed in Anton Khairov's corner. It was soon Egorov's turn to nod in another Yashin delivery before Gorbunov completed his hat-trick with a header at the back post.