The Stumbras Herald
Squad17 Aug 2026
A one-man rearguard from Darius Novikovas
There were 17 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Match12 Aug 2026
The small margins put Stumbras out
Out, 0‑0 to Suduva, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
A first appearance Edvinas Jankauskas will want to forget — 5.80
Everybody's debut is one of two stories and this was the other one. 5.80, and the only consolation available is that nobody's career has ever been decided by ninety minutes in a shirt he had just been given.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Stumbras
Marius Mikoliunas was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Lukas Novikovas falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Arvydas Paulauskas
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
Aidas Dubickas runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 17. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
The kick that got away from Marius Mikoliunas
Twelve yards, a goalkeeper guessing, and it still did not go in. He will take the next one, and every soul in the ground will hold their breath.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
The one thing Arnas Slavickas could not do
Shots: 5, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
In brief
- Market Deividas Eliosius is free to find somewhere else
- Market Valdas Paulauskas arrives on loan
- Market Stumbras put Vitalijs Zjuzins up for sale