From April 23 to 25, the STC Tambov football arena hosted matches of the 11th season of the National Student Football League (NSFL). Participants of the Igor Gamula Super League met in Tambov: Derzhava, OrelSU (Orel), PIU (Saratov) and RUS GTsOLIFK (Moscow). The Derzhavin team won two out of three matches.
On the first day of the competition, the NSFL President, First Vice President of the RSSS Andrey Stukalov, Rector of Derzhavin University Pavel Moiseev and Minister of Sports of the Tambov Region Pavel Gritskov addressed the participants with a welcoming speech.
“It is very symbolic for us that we are opening this 11th season here in Tambov,” noted Pavel Moiseev. “The first season of the League was also opened in Tambov. A ten-year competitive cycle has passed, and we are the hosts of the opening round again. The primary function of student sports is to introduce young people to a healthy lifestyle. It is important to note that student sports are becoming such that they are not much inferior to high-performance sports in terms of entertainment. A successful season to all participants, and I will say to our team: "Only "Derzhava", only victory!"
On the first game day, the Derzhavin team lost to the team from the capital by a minimal score of 0:1. In the next two game days, Evgeny Belyakov's charges only won. First, in a match with Saratov PIU, "Derzhava" sent two unanswered goals into the opponents' goal, and then in a tense encounter with Orel State University, they snatched a victory with a score of 3:2. It is noteworthy that "Derzhava" beat the "winged ones" for the first time since September 2014.
After the home round, "Derzhava" will not have much time to rest. Ahead is preparation for the tour in Saransk, which will take place from June 1 to 3.
