Ukraine bounce back to qualify

Ukraine, semi-finalists at the UEFA European Under-19 Championship in July, overcame a slow start to win Group 2 and move through to the Elite round of the 2004/05 competition, with Poland - who also reached the finals in Switzerland - progressing behind Yuri Kalitvintsev's team.

Strong section
In a strong section, Ukraine secured first place with six points, two more than the Poles. Switzerland, who reached the semi-finals of the competition on home soil earlier this year, finished in fourth and last place with three points, with Moldova claiming third position having also collected four points.

Early winner
Ukraine began the section in disappointing fashion, with Alexandru Zislis's 12th-minute goal enough to earn Moldova an unexpected victory against the mini-tournament hosts at Kiev's Valery Lobanovskiy stadium.

Polished display
Also on Matchday 1, Poland produced a fine display at the Valery Lobanovskiy Training stadium, also in Kiev, to defeat ten-man Switzerland 3-1. Pawel Pytlarz gave the Poles a half-time lead with the opening goal of the game after 36 minutes and Swiss hopes looked to be fading when goalkeeper David Gonzalez was sent off three minutes into the second half.

Late drama
However, Alem Abdi equalised from the penalty spot on the hour and it seemed the Swiss would hold on for an unlikely point, only for two goals in the final two minutes, from Wojciech Okinczyc and Rafal Wawrzynczok, to give Poland a dramatic win.

Scoreless stalemate
Poland and Moldova's hopes of progressing were both checked in the second round of matches, as the two sides played out an uneventful goalless draw at the Valery Lobanovskiy Training stadium. Ukraine, meanwhile, responded well to their opening-day disappointment, with Oleksandr Gladkyy scoring the goal of the game in the 82nd minute to secure a narrow 1-0 win against the Swiss.

Turning point
The results left the section intriguingly balanced ahead of the third and final round of matches, and it was the tournament hosts who dealt better with the pressure, Ruslan Fomin scoring both goals in a 2-1 win against ten-man Poland. The first half was an even affair, only for Remy Andreasik's dismissal three minutes before half-time for a second yellow card to tip the game Ukraine's way.

Fomin finesse
Fomin duly capitalised in the second 45 minutes, breaking the deadlock in the 68th minute and seemingly sealing the points with a second goal six minutes from time. Although Okinczyc halved the deficit a minute later, Ukraine held on for an all-important win.

Spectacular turnaround
The result meant that a win for Moldova against Switzerland would have left Boris Tropanet's team at the top of the table, and all seemed to be going well as Alexandru Epureanu scored twice to put the Moldovans 2-0 up by the 24th minute. The already-eliminated Swiss fought back magnificently, however, with Abdi halving the deficit four minutes before the interval and Charles-André Doudin leveling eight minutes after the restart.

Last-gasp clincher
That set the match up perfectly for an exhilarating finale, which duly arrived in the very last minute as Peter Läng struck to crown a remarkable Swiss fightback. Moldovan hopes are not yet completely extinguished, however, as they could yet progress to the Elite round as the best third-placed team.