Bencak 1 - 10 Postojna (250834823)

A scorching day at NŠ Bencak, where 33650 spectators were in place for today's match. Osman Kargı was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Wilfried Bartelen and Ingo Glöckler. Bencak had chosen a strategic 3-4-3 formation. Starters: Radosavljevič - Repovž, Zaveršek, Dobrak - Šopić, Fahrenberg, Salas, Lazar - Verdes, Gartenstadt, Cusaro.

Postojna tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. They fielded: Saadadi - Giovanelli, Kuret, Kurtin - Burčul, Kocjančič, Vuga, Civile, Veselin - Mitič, Celaya.

Bencak showed off their creative tactics. The terraces were silenced after 13 minutes when Postojna's E. Celaya put the guests ahead 0 - 1, following an attack on the right. 27 minutes in, Bencak's Š. Dobrak received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. The sun seemed to put P. Verdes in a great mood, and he showed off his technical skills all match long. 35 minutes into the match, the visitors put themselves ahead 0 - 2 as C. Burčul finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. Confident in their lead, Postojna's players relaxed and focused more on defending the lead than increasing it. After 37 minutes, Postojna's E. Celaya burst through the central defence and let loose a cannonball of a shot, scoring for 0 - 3. Bencak made it 1 - 3 as H. Gartenstadt got a touch to the floated corner kick and flicked the ball to J. Salas who whipped a low drive in off the far post. The home crowd was not impressed when R. Mitič came in from the right, shooting hard to score after 38 minutes. Postojna were now up 1 - 4. A drive down the left side allowed C. Burčul to get in close and score another goal for Postojna after 39 minutes, taking the score to 1 - 5. Bencak's P. Verdes got himself booked for a foul. In a fantastic display of determination, Postojna's M. Kuret forced himself to his feet, after an opponent viciously knocked him down. The teams went for the halftime break at 1 - 5. Possession in this half belonged to Postojna, who controlled the ball 80 percent of the time.

E. Celaya increased the visitors' lead by putting a volley away after a pass from the right. 1 - 6. By then E. Celaya had scored three goals - a hat trick! The referee showed Bencak's J. Salas the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. R. Mitič of Postojna had to be helped off the pitch as an injury meant he was unable to finish the game. J. Löffler came in to finish the match. With 66 minutes played, a quick exchange of passes on the left wing freed K. Vuga of Postojna to slip through the defence and score another goal for the visitors. That made the score 1 - 7. With 86 minutes played, Postojna put themselves up 1 - 8 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. The scorer was E. Celaya. Postojna increased their lead after 87 minutes when J. Löffler broke through on the right, upping the score to 1 - 9, much to the home crowd's dismay. The sunny day didn't make things easy for J. Löffler who didn't seem his usual powerful self on the pitch. Some fine movement on the left led to a Postojna goal after 89 minutes, making it 1 - 10. E. Kocjančič was noted down as the scorer. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave C. Burčul from Postojna a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 89 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! Postojna claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 82 percent.

P. Verdes performed admirably for Bencak. B. Radosavljevič was a disappointment, however. Postojna's best player was M. Saadadi. On the other hand, J. Löffler's play was disheartening. The match ends 1 - 10.