Olymp rugby club became the champion in rugby-15 for the tenth time. It is undoubtedly an outstanding achievement not only by Ukrainian, but also by international standards. The team, which has always been considered the flagship of Ukrainian rugby, has lately shown some noticeable progress. Experts attribute this steady professional growth to clever guidance from the coaching team as well as reliable financial support. The support that has been provided to the team for the last couple of years by a Kharkiv businessman and philanthropist Aleksandr Yaroslavskiy.
The Kharkiv players won their tenth champions of Ukraine title in rugby-15 in a hard-fought battle. Especially considering the fact that the team played against their main competitors, Odessa Kredo-1963 club, in two final matches. Despite the confidence shown by the club from Odessa on their home field during the first match of the finals, Olymp came out victorious with 17:9 score. However, the wheel of fortune surprisingly turned against Kharkiv players in the return match on Dynamo stadium. Due to injuries and disqualifications, several of Olymp's leading players had to skip this match, namely, Oleg Kosarev, Nikolay Kirsanov, Vadim Kolyshkin, Oleg Litvinenko. Despite Olymp's strong start and a drop goal by Sergei Tserkovnyi in the 21st minute, the Odessites were clearly not going to give away their victory without a fight. Already in the 34th minute, Nikolai Deliergiyev, with a serve from Yevgeniy Chaika, cut the lead after a prolonged struggle near the score field line to 8:7. In return, the Olympians answered with a goal in the 37th minute (Aleksandr Lubyi). But right before the half-time, Kredo successfully realized a penalty goal. Despite this, the first time ended in Olymp's favour - 15:10. In the second time, the luck was on the side of Olymp's rivals. Nevertheless, the Kharkiv players got a real chance to win in the 79th minute: Vladimir Voitov confidently scored a penalty goal and led his team forward again - 18:17. But in the last extra minute, the result of the match was sealed after a penalty by Deliergiyev. The game ended with 18:20 score in favour of the Odessites.
However, Olymp took the lead according to the total score, becoming the champion of Ukraine in rugby-15 for the tenth(!) time. Thus, fans, who anxiously watched the game in the bleachers when the temperature dropped to -6°C, were greatly rewarded.
Olymp's head coach Valeriy Kochanov, commenting the game, thanked the players and everyone who led the team to this victory. "Thank you to all who came to the stadium in this winter weather. The game was difficult because both teams were determined to have a tough uncompromising game. But I believe that the spectators liked it. It was hard to gain this victory, that's why it is so special for us. So many thanks to all the guys and, of course, to all who believed in us and supported us. Separate huge thanks go to Aleksandr Yaroslavskiy who has been supporting us on the way to being champions for many years. It would be difficult to overestimate this contribution, and you can see the result for yourself. Once again, thank you all!"
http://kharkov.comments.ua/news/2014/11/24/185206.html
