picball 1 - 2 GreenBayPackets (392651385)

29108 punters turned up at picball Coliseum, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came. Bernd Minart was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Raimund Vincent and Alexandre Bodiguel. The derby had been the talk of Madrid all week and fans of both teams could be seen throughout the stadium. picball tactics involved an interesting 5-4-1 combination. The following players took the field: Luzón - Illán, Galán, Ozorio, Novo, Honorato - Teodoro, Ronda, da Pumarega, Zaballos - Toro.

GreenBayPackets had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Rubio Rueda - Liudkevičius, Hughes, Buron Cuadrado - Rajakallio, Pelach, Elormendi, Hernandorena, Colace - Barral, Abrahamsen.

picball were relying on their ability to counter-attack. After 4 minutes, the defensive line of picball created a counterattack through the middle that gave P. Ronda a good look at the goal, but his shot glanced harmlessly off the crossbar. A mistake by the home side's central defence after 9 minutes allowed R. Buron Cuadrado to score for GreenBayPackets. The scoreboard now read 0 - 1. Had it not been for one of the home defenders, F. Colace would have put GreenBayPackets up another goal 13 minutes into the match with his audacious lob from the right wing. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave O. Hernandorena from GreenBayPackets a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 17 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! It was 0 - 1 at the break. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by GreenBayPackets, with 57 percent of the ball.

The GreenBayPackets players could smell victory in the air. I. Pelach wasn't in a hurry to leave the field as he was substituted for S. Angulo after 46 minutes. After 46 minutes, GreenBayPackets felt secure enough to make a tactical change. S. Angulo and M. Elormendi assumed each others positions on the field. R. Abrahamsen received a delicate pass through the home side's central defence after 56 minutes, and chipped it past the flailing keeper to score making it 0 - 2. The GreenBayPackets fans went wild, whilst the home fans started to think about leaving early. With a penalty awarded after 65 minutes, picball's B. Toro placed the ball low and to the keeper's right, impossible to block. 1 - 2. A defender managed to keep the ball from crossing the goal-line after a curling shot coming in from the right from P. Liudkevičius after 82 minutes, and prevented GreenBayPackets from going up another goal. GreenBayPackets claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 58 percent.

picball's best player was P. Ronda. D. Zaballos turned in a dismal performance, however. GreenBayPackets's top performer was clearly O. Hernandorena. On the other hand, S. Angulo's play was disheartening. The match ends 1 - 2.