Riga Mariners saw off Rīgas FS II in the 1. league on Friday evening, closing out a 3:1 win in front of their own supporters. The result keeps the home side firmly planted in fourth place, while the visitors remain rooted in 11th after another heavy defeat. This was the 18th round of the regular season and, by then, the pattern was becoming impossible to ignore.
A. Grazis opened the scoring just before the break, latching onto a loose pass and slotting home at the 45th minute. It was the kind of moment that catches you off guard — a defensive error, a split-second decision, and the ball was in the net. Mariners took that lead into the interval feeling they had earned something.
Granis doubled his tally and the margin after an hour, another clinical finish that put the game beyond doubt. Karklins then added a third in the 80th minute, turning in from close range to seal the points. The visitors never really threatened to get back into it, not with the way the hosts moved between the lines.
Y. Poskryobyshev scored in the 75th minute, a goal that came before the final seal rather than after, but it hardly shifted the mood. And here's the thing — it was the fourth goal in the match, not three, so the scoreboard told a slightly different story than the headline. FS II have now lost 12 of their 18 games, and the gap at the bottom is widening.
Mariners sit on 41 points from 18 matches, with only one defeat to their name. The distance between them and the teams around them is growing, and the form over the last five rounds — three wins, one draw, one loss — tells you where the momentum is heading. For Rīgas FS II, 12 points from 18 games is a long way from safety, and the recent results have not been kind.