merchtem2006 5 - 1 hcjimmy (151695729)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 7516 at merchtem2006 Arena today. Domingos Durães was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Riccardo Bibo and Erich Wagner. merchtem2006 started off with a 4-4-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Langenbacher - Trezegnies, Cartier, Kristovskis, Imschoot - Jorritsma, Sjoukema, Dewinter, Iriarte - Grafrath, Schamp.

hcjimmy had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. The following players took the field: Craeghs - Van Sterthem, Roets, Janssens, Van Der Jeugt - Note, Verherstraeten, Al-Malik, Lahousse - Parry, Naveau.

merchtem2006 were mostly trying to use their skill at attacking on the flanks. hcjimmy's Z. Al-Malik got himself booked for a foul. merchtem2006 fans held their breath as S. Cartier scampered down the left side. He successfully avoided all challenges and cracked home the shot for 1 - 0! The visitors refused to give in and, after 20 minutes, P. Lahousse evened things up as he finished off a perfect pass from the right. 1 - 1 Making his way up the middle 23 minutes into the match, I. Sjoukema almost managed to squeeze a goal past the visitors' keeper, but the alert D. Craeghs blocked it to keep the score level. The teams went for the halftime break at 1 - 1. merchtem2006 claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 66 percent.

Slack defending gave merchtem2006 a chance to take the lead with 48 minutes played, but H. Grafrath's cross from the left flank was fumbled in front of the goal and easily dealt with by the opposition. After some beautiful movement down the left wing, S. Cartier scored for merchtem2006 putting them ahead 2 - 1, after 51 minutes. R. Iriarte's speed was clear to see after 54 minutes, as he darted down the wing and released H. Grafrath who placed the ball into the back of the net to make the score 3 - 1. With 57 minutes played, merchtem2006 put themselves up 4 - 1 when the visiting defenders lost the ball to S. Cartier, who came up from the left and proceeded to coolly round the keeper and knock the ball home. That made three goals for S. Cartier and he was marked down for the hat trick. A speedy charge from the left side of the field increased the lead of merchtem2006 to 5 - 1 as S. Cartier finished it off competently, firing in from an acute angle. At this point, it was obvious that the players of merchtem2006 lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. merchtem2006 claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 78 percent.

The most dominating merchtem2006 player was without a doubt S. Cartier. However, H. Grafrath made a disastrous appearance. hcjimmy's top performer was clearly N. Roets. On the other hand, H. Verherstraeten's play was disheartening. The match ends 5 - 1.