Achiken 1 - 3 Izarra (378570702)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 2828 at Aichiken today. Rumen Velchev was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Jean-Claude Rigollet and Antoni Hewelt. Achiken tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: 上野 (Ueno) - 和田 (Wada), Tsunoda, 千葉 (Chiba) - Marcolin, 佐々木 (Sasaki), Ogi, 西田 (Nishida), Camara - Fujimaki, Ulmanis.

Izarra had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Cevallos - Linares, Pagans, Coldeira - Mallol, Esperun, Lafuente, Merino, Mendiola - Estramiana, Llagostera.

Achiken mostly ignored the flanks in favour of their ability to attack in the middle. Izarra took the lead 5 minutes into the game, making the score 0 - 1 after some elegant movement down the middle. I. Pagans was the scorer. With 9 minutes played, a quick exchange of passes on the left wing freed T. Mendiola of Izarra to slip through the defence and score another goal for the visitors. That made the score 0 - 2. E. Cevallos left the field with a smile on his face as he was substituted 15 minutes into the game, as his team was in the lead. G. Vallvé was the replacement. G. Llagostera's speed is always a threat when he gets a little room to move, and 23 minutes into the match was no different as he broke free of his man to send a delightful through ball to J. Estramiana who knocked it in for Izarra. 0 - 3! After this, you could see that the players of Izarra were more interested in killing time than scoring more goals. Central attacks were the recipe of the day for Achiken, as they moved the ball from the wings to the middle with startling regularity. 0 - 3 was the halftime score. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Izarra, with 52 percent of the ball.

Y. Fujimaki made a nice dash down the wing after 54 minutes, but was unable to get the cross into the box. A goal kick was awarded. Achiken had a good opportunity to attack on the wing, but remembered their instructions to go for middle attacks. The home team's supporters got excited again when 達. 和田 (Wada) broke through the visitors' central defence and caught their keeper off guard, making it 1 - 3. J. Estramiana came close to extending the visitors' lead when he found himself completely unmarked in front of the goal after a pass through the middle. He tried to lift the ball over 孝. 上野 (Ueno) but overcooked it and hit the bar instead. The Izarra players could smell victory in the air. G. Llagostera wasn't in a hurry to leave the field as he was substituted for B. Raventós after 80 minutes. Possession in this half belonged to Izarra, who controlled the ball 52 percent of the time.

O. Ulmanis performed admirably for Achiken. Y. Fujimaki was a disappointment, however. Izarra's best player was B. Raventós. However, T. Mendiola made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 1 - 3.