Akuve 4 - 0 SINU (378580255)

A brilliantly sunny day had enticed a crowd of 3164 to Morfeo Arena. Mario Irelli was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Vidak Bojović and Kent Yngvesson. Akuve had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Parrillo - García-Velasco, Cepeda, Larralde - Jonsson, Bauçà, Grob, Elhorga, Buscemi - Carra, Ruibarbo.

SINU decided to use a 5-4-1 set up. The following players took the field: Jänes - Soto, Manzoni, Crupi, Kobiałko, Gilboa - Õismaa, Sztankó, Must, Maronen - La Porta.

Using their counter-attacking abilities was the strategy of choice for SINU. A counterattack by SINU after 7 minutes could have resulted in a goal, but R. Crupi, coming in on the left, couldn't get the shot off. Akuve had a good opportunity to take the lead as J. Bauçà came up the left side, but he struck the ball weakly and it went straight into the arms of E. Jänes. W. Kobiałko behaved like an inexperienced youth player after 24 minutes as he gave the ball away to A. Carra. Lucky for him though, there was no goal. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave J. García-Velasco from Akuve a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 40 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! Akuve's D. Jonsson proved that he's been around on a football pitch before, when he took advantage of a few moments of confusion in the opposition's defensive line and elegantly scored for 1 - 0. The teams went for the halftime break at 1 - 0. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Akuve, with 65 percent of the ball.

SINU almost scored after a swift counterattack 49 minutes into the game, but R. Must put the shot from the left flank just outside the goal. Akuve put themselves up 2 - 0 when A. Carra broke through on the right, leaving the entire defence trailing in his wake. Things were deteriorating for the away team as Akuve scored another to make it 3 - 0 after a left side attack resulted in a goal for A. Carra after 84 minutes. Akuve were given a gift! The ref dubiously awarded them a penalty 85 minutes into the match, which was neatly put away by D. Cepeda. 4 - 0 for the home side. Several players seemed a little dazed by the warm weather, and were repeatedly tricked by the clever and agile G. Manzoni. With 88 minutes played, Ó. Ruibarbo of Akuve fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. Akuve claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 65 percent.

Akuve's best player was T. Grob. J. Parrillo turned in a dismal performance, however. Most important SINU player was G. Manzoni. On the other hand, G. La Porta's play was disheartening. The match ends 4 - 0.