Portugal
Liga 2
Monday 4th April 2022
Kick Off 18.00 Actual 18.04
Varzim Sport Club 2 F.C. Porto ’B’ 1, attendance 2,697
22’ 0-1
25’ 1-1
83’ 2-1
@ Estadio do Varzim Sport Club
Rua Varzim Sport Club
4490-475 Povoa de Varzim
€15 Admission
No Programme.
The first job today was to return the hire car, as tonight’s match was doable by public transport and we were on a flight home first thing in the morning. Povoa de Varzim is to the north of Porto and the last stop on Line B (red) of the metro system. We were staying at an airport hotel, so caught the train from Verdes,(2 stops from the airport on Line E (purple) but easier to walk due to poor connection times) where a 35 minute ride (17 stops) takes you to the delightful seaside resort of Povoa de Varzim, with the stadium a further 15-20 minutes walk from here. The fare was a very reasonable €1.60 each way, plus an additional €0.60 for the rechargeable card, when paying for your first journey. It was good to note that four stops before the end of the line, at Vila do Conde, you are only a few hundred yards from the ground of current Liga 2 leaders Rio Ave F.C. We had planned on going there on Saturday, until they changed the kick off time at short notice, but it looks easier to do on public transport anyway, rather than using a hire car, so no great loss.
We bought tickets from the club shop, paying €15 to sit along the side, with the option of going behind the goal for €10 also available. The ground has a capacity of 11,000 although it only has three sides in use at present, with the large covered end currently shut, so probably a couple of thousand fewer. With F.C. Porto being the live game on Portuguese television tonight, kicking off less than half an hour after this game finished, we didn’t expect a great following for their ’B’ team, and we were right. Their number totalled just 10 (3 were women) which was a one to one ratio with the police in the away section!
Tonight’s game was 17th (second bottom) versus 13th in the league table. Porto ’B’ opened the scoring on twenty two minutes, an angled shot finding the far corner of the net from just inside the 18 yard box. Varzim levelled three minutes later, a free kick was spilled by the ’keeper and followed in from close range. The game kept the interest throughout, as both teams went for the winner, which came seven minutes from time and went the way of Varzim, when a corner from the left was headed down powerfully into the bottom corner. It was a vital win, as it lifted them out of the bottom two, above Sporting Clube Covilha on goal difference.
