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Ukrainian amateurs do it again

A Ukrainian side will compete in the UEFA Regions' Cup finals for the second edition in succession after Ivan Odessa AMA won the Group 5 mini-tournament.

A Ukrainian side will compete in the UEFA Regions' Cup finals for the second edition in succession after Ivan Odessa AMA won the Group 5 mini-tournament.

Goalless draws
After winning their first two games on home soil, Sergei Suchoruchenko's side could afford a goalless draw against a spirited Liechtenstein AMA side on their final matchday, with their other group contenders - Belgium's Centre AMA and Slovenia's Ptuj & Celje AMA - also drawing 0-0 in Burgas. However, if the tournament was short on goals it certainly was not short on commitment as all four sides battled gallantly throughout the week in fine weather in Odessa.

Late winner
Ivan Odessa left it late to secure their winner in the opening game of what proved to be an extremely competitive section. Substitute Volodymyr Egorov found the target against Centre after 89 minutes to give the home side a 1-0 lead with Ptuj & Celje winning 3-0 against Liechtenstein in their opening game, with goals from Oskar Perpar and Filip Žnidarič either side of a Matevž Čater penalty.

Bachur strike
Thus, the Matchday 2 fixture between Ivan Odessa and Ptuj & Celje on 20 October already had the look of a group decider. It was to prove a spirited encounter, with neither side giving an inch in their quest for victory, but once more it took just one goal for the home side to take all three points, with Vytalyi Bachur scoring what proved to be the winner two minutes into the second half.

Belgian success
Centre won what was to be their only game of the tournament on the same day as they put four past Liechtenstein. Remy Menten and Maarten De Scheper scored for the Belgians either side of two goals from Kenny Jacobs to send them through to the final day with a chance of taking second place in the table.

Bronze medals
"My players have worked extremely hard this week to qualify for the final tournament," said Ivan Odessa coach Suchoruchenko. "We hope to travel to the finals and do better than our country's representatives in 2005" The 2005 UEFA Regions' Cup finals in the Malopolska region of Poland boasted a fine Ukrainian side in the form of Kahovka-Kzeso AMA, who left the event with bronze medals after finishing as runners-up behind eventual winners Vasca AMA in Group B at the eight-team final tournament.