Zlín win sends Yednyst home point-less

Zlín Region rounded off their UEFA Regions' Cup campaign with victory against Yednyst Plysky thanks to two goals in as many second-half minutes.

Needing a win to stand any chance of reaching the final, Petr Zapletal's team fell behind to Olexandr Babor's second goal of the finals. However, Ondřej Školník restored parity from the spot on 68 minutes, with Yevgen Valko's own goal moments later consigning the Ukrainian representatives to a third successive Group A reverse while confirming second spot in the section for the Czech side.

The temperature may have been a sticky 35C but that did little to stifle the amount of chances in an open first period. Serhiy Yakimenko's goal-line block from Michal Huťka preceded Babor, arriving unmarked at the back post, heading in a cross from the industrious Maksym Leheda just after the half-hour mark.

One very nearly became two seconds later when the roles were reversed, Leheda this time forcing Jaroslav Krajča into a low save from Babor's centre. Only Shevchenko's positioning initially preserved Yednyst Plysky's lead after the break - the goalkeeper blocking Jiri Valek's close-range header - but, having started the second period brightly, Zlín Region soon equalised through Školník.

Buoyed by their breakthrough, Zapletal's charges were ahead when Ales Michalek's corner went in off the unfortunate Valko. Having conceded the penalty by felling Jiři Valášek, Olexandr Shakunenko rounded off a miserable couple of minutes for him and his team as he was dismissed for reacting to Jan Lukáš's challenge.

Valek then, somehow, hit the side netting after rounding goalkeeper Shevchenko, but it mattered little as Zlín Region signed off on a high with a bronze medal.