BALUBA 5 - 1 Schwabenpower66 (393343302)

Clear skies welcomed the 1757 spectators who had made their way to SAN PIRO. John Kvalsund was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Dalibor Vrček and Lipina Kruse. BALUBA had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Romanelli - Nacci, Sobisch, Alberoni - Rubes, Lattanzio, Mehandzhiev, Belsky Crespo, Erich - Wrethling, Ottiger.

A 3-4-3 alignment was the formation of choice for Schwabenpower66. Lineup: Ottowitz - Sahlgren, Mogensen, Bold - De Ceuster, Kruijs, Saramago, Layton - Freudling, Espés, Carujo.

Schwabenpower66 seemed to prefer attacking in the middle. The guests took the lead 2 minutes into the match, after a right-side attack resulted in C. Layton scoring to make it 0 - 1. Some fine passing in the middle of the pitch, carving open the away defence, should have led to a goal for BALUBA, but H. Ottiger's shot went over the bar. BALUBA's G. Wrethling left the field after 11 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was R. Bergonzoni. With 14 minutes having been played, BALUBA scored to make it 1 - 1. A dribble down the left wing, followed by a shot which took a wicked bounce off a defender resulted in the keeper having no chance. Everyone thought it'd been an own goal, but H. Ottiger was marked down as the scorer. The referee showed Schwabenpower66's L. Saramago the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. The visitors' central defence should have had no trouble clearing the pass to H. Ottiger, but the BALUBA player managed to shrug them off and fired a low shot past the keeper to give his team the lead. 2 - 1! BALUBA increased the lead as A. Mehandzhiev struck to make the score 3 - 1 after an attack from the left left him unmarked in front of the keeper. By now, the players in BALUBA felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. A. Mehandzhiev had a fantastic opportunity to put BALUBA up another goal 26 minutes into the match, but he fired just over the crossbar. With 36 minutes played, R. Bergonzoni of BALUBA fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. 3 - 1 was the halftime score. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by BALUBA, with 60 percent of the ball.

G. Rubes should probably have put his team up another goal after 63 minutes, but some great goalkeeping by H. Ottowitz kept the visitors in the game. 66 minutes into the match, the visitors' central line of defence had to look on as P. Erich broke through, making the score 4 - 1 for BALUBA. BALUBA's P. Belsky Crespo increased the lead to 5 - 1, after he saw his shot go between the legs of the advancing goalkeeper following some good play down the right wing after 76 minutes. BALUBA's R. Bergonzoni swung in a good chance from the left, but the visitors' defence were able to clear the ball. BALUBA had most of the ball, with 58 percent of possession.

R. Bergonzoni performed admirably for BALUBA. S. Romanelli was a disappointment, however. Schwabenpower66's best player was L. Saramago. However, C. Bold made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 5 - 1.