The Cup final opposed Torpedo (Moscow) to Dnepr (Dnepropetrovsk). Torpedo reached the final for a second consecutive year – they lost the final the first time, so… they were eager to correct that. Dnepr, however, was stronger team than Metallist (Kharkov), the previous year winners. The final was not a great match, not even memorable – hot weather was blamed for the economical, if not outright sluggish tactical display on the pitch. Both teams depended on counter-attacks, and the similar approach naturally reduced greatly the entertaining value of the game – much more so than the heat. Thus, the most interesting part of the final were the scandals: Dnepr complained just before the start of the game that Torpedo was fielding ineligible player. They were right… kind of. The right full back Solovev had 2 yellow cards so far and by the rules he had to miss the game. Torpedo argued that, yes, Solovev had 2 yellows, 1 playing for the first team and one for the B team, but he already served his suspension, missing a B team match. The refereeing body had different interpretation of the rules – he had to miss first team game, B teams do not count. Why cards got at B team games counted, but serving suspension must be only with the first team nobody was able to figure out – Solovev had to be replaced with another player and the foggy rule discussed later. Torpedo delivered its own low punch after the game: they contested the result. In the 42nd minute Yury Savichev scored equalizer and the referee immediately signaled that it was a goal. Then he consulted the linesman and with the same categorical gesture dismissed the goal. The match inspector in his report gave the referees the lowest mark and the rest was endless debates about what happened – was it legitimate goal or not, was it some big, but innocent refereeing mistake, or something more sinister, and so on. More dirty laundry was uncovered, when it became known that the rules looked a bit twisted – the referee for the final had to be chosen from a pool of referees, but at the time of choosing they earned suspensions and what was left was only this one – well, an easy choice to make when there is only one candidate. But it is not an easy matter to annul a Cup final – Torpedo’s contest was eventually dismissed.
The final itself was largely a discussion of the new Torpedo kit – they played with unusual green jerseys, to the great displeasure of their fans insisting on traditional white and black. Even colours became a negative factor – in white (Dnepr played in white at the final) players appear bigger. This green… it made Torpedo smaller, that’s why they lost. As a whole, Torpedo looked better organized and more dangerous (Dnepr was missing injured players and its play was nervous and not well coordinated), but was unable to score a few chances. On the other hand, Dnepr had one chance and did not miss it – if it was a real chance, for their attack was not much and Torpedo’s defense looked like taking the upper hand and the ball was cleared. But it was cleared to the foot of Shokh, still far away from the net, outside penalty area, and he made a great kick, and the ball ended in the net. It was a great surprise to a big part because Shokh did not train with Dnepr for a week, going to his mother’s funeral, and it was taken for granted that he was not ready for the game neither physically, nor mentally. This more or less lucky goal proved to be the only goal scored legally and Dnepr won.
Anton Shokh, captain and goalscorer of Dnepr, received the Cup. No wonder he does not look happy and is not smiling, practically arriving to play the final from his mother’s funeral.
Torpedo (Moscow) lost second final in a row. There were some good players in the squad – the Savichev brothers, for instance – and the team had solid season, but after the last whistle in the final fans murmured that their Torpedo is dead. They proved prophetic…
Dnepr (Dnepropetrovsk) won its first Cup right after winning their second title. Crouching from left: A. Sidelnikov, I. Vishnevsky, A. Cherednik, A. Yudin, V. Bagmut, N. Kudritzky, E. Shakhov, E. Son, V. Lyuty, V. Chebanov – masseur. Standing: V. Gorodov, V. Tishtenko, A. Chervony, R. Konafotzky – administrator, N. Filippovsky – team chief, E. Kucherevsky – coach, S. Krakovsky, L. Koltun – assistant coach, A. Shokh, E. Yarovenko, N. Chernysh – doctor, N. Cherny – doctor.
After the final Anton Shokh said that Dnepr’s secret was the close friendship between the players. Although most players came from other clubs, they were not young and insecure players and that was perhaps why the relations in the team were so good – they had common goal to unite them and on that base no unhealthy rivalries emerged. Shokh gave as an example the friendly relations between the goalkeepers – Gorodov and Krakovsky – who, despite the fact, that Krakovsky took the place previously taken by Gorodov helped each other without ill feelings. Perhaps there was more to it, for Shokh was friends with Son and Yarovenko from their years together with Kairat (Alma-ata) – and in the case of Yarovenko, friends since childhood, but in any case relations in the team were good. The coach was highly respected too, which helped particularly when the team had to improvise because of injured players – three defenders at the final were moved back midfielders. Bagmut in particular with time was moved from one position to another – from striker to midfielder and from midfield – to right full back. Perhaps good relations existed because of the chance Dnepr provided to second-rate – or underrated – players like Shokh, Son, Sorokalet (a staple of the team, who missed most of this season because of heavy injury), Yarovenko, and others , to achieve some success at last, when it was also clear that no big club would be interested in them. And since there were no great stars in the team, equality kept them well cemented together. Meantime Dnepr was considered the only Soviet club organized as a real professional club should be (or imagined to be), meaning there were no problems with money (although other clubs often paid more) and players were well taken care of. All said, the great period of Dnepr ended at this time – nobody knew or expected that, but the Cup was the last trophy Dnepr won.
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