JDFS Alberts fell 2-1 to SK Super Nova-2 in the opening round of the 2026 Latvian 1. līga.
Sporta bāze Krasts (Riga, Latvia) — 20 March, 2026 | SK Super Nova-2 vs JDFS Alberts 2-1
Newly promoted SK Super Nova-2 (reserve team of SK Super Nova competing in Virslīga) hosted the previous 1. līga campaign silver medalists JDFS Alberts, who were very unlucky at the end of the season — the team finished with 58 points collected, in a three-way tie with champions Ogre United and third placed Riga Mariners, so they had to take part in promotion play-off against Virslīga 9th-placed FK Grobiņa, where their rivals won by 1-0 on aggregate, keeping JDFS Alberts in the Latvian football pyramid’s second highest tier.
Home side SK Super Nova-2, led by Vladislavs Pavļučenko, started the game in 5-3-2 formation, which often took shape as 4-4-2. They tried to practice offensive dominance on the opposition team in the early minutes, and to put a lot of emphasis on the dynamic attack control and counter-attacks (which was effective at the first goal scored). It was delighting to see a high level team cohesion, and the way how the players motivated each other.
JDFS Alberts, coached by Artūrs Zakreševskis (who is on the team’s bench since 2012), opted for 4-2-3-1 formation. Of the two defensive midfielders (Krišs Andersons and Renards Krišjānis), team captain Andersons was the one who stepped back into the defensive line more often, to start building up from there. After making some crucial mistakes in the first half, their team-play and offensive play turned to be more improved and more fluid for the second part of the game. Klāvs Kramēns (left centre-back) should be highlighted for his solid performance.
The first goal of the game came up in the 19th minute, after a counter-attack was started from an opposition corner — Armenian-Latvian Aram Baghdasaryan made the assist, fellow striker Iļja Streļcovs converted it to a goal (1-0). In the early minutes of the second half, SK Super Nova-2 doubled their lead: right centre-back Jegors Čugunovs scored by header, assisted by left-back Alens Grikovs from corner (2-0). In the extra-time (94th minute), right winger Matīss Zēģele scored a consolation goal for JDFS Alberts, by a penalty given for handball (2-1).
(JDFS Alberts player number 17 in orange, Matīss Zēģele, scores the consolation goal — as last moment of this clash)
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