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FC Ararat Yerevan v FC Mika

4pm  30 September 2012

Armenia, Premier League
FC Ararat Yerevan 1 FC Mika 0 (att 200)

Thanks to staggered kick off times this was the first of two Armenian Premier League on my Sunday itinerary.

During the Soviet era Ararat Yerevan were probably Armenia's top club. They were certainly among the USSR teams I was aware of thanks to their European exploits. Those days are long gone now, and the club doesn't even play in Yerevan at the moment, instead they're based about 12 miles to the north in Abovyan.

The taxi journey to Abovyan took about 30 minutes, but was a wise investment as I wouldn't fancy driving in Armenia, given the state of the roads, the condition of many of the vehicles and the standard of driving.

Ararat use the City Stadium in Abovyan. The ground's title is misleading, not that it's not a stadium, but you'd be hard pushed to define Abovyan as a "city". With time to kill before the match I set off in search of the town centre to have a look around, and perhaps find a beer. Instead all I found were dusty, deserted tree-lined boulevards, several of which were so alike I nearly got lost trying to get back to the ground.

Like the previous day's game at Banants admission was free. Ararat were bottom of the league and Mika top, so the result was something of a surprise. The game started brightly, with the home getting a 2nd minute penalty, but it was saved and for while I thought I might go another game without a goal.

Ararat finally broke the deadlock 10 minutes into the second half, although I still didn't get the see the ball hit the back of the net. A goal-bound effort was headed off the line, but a sharp eyed assistant ruled it has crossed the line before being cleared.

After the game the taxi driver was bang on time to ferry me on another hair-raising ride back into Yerevan for the next match.









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