Brighton 2 - 1 Burlington (266299723)

The 12000 spectators at The Pearson Arena were in for an afternoon of sunshine. Tommi Kankainen was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Jeroen Baudin and Salvatore 'Al' Capone. Brighton started off with a 4-4-2 lineup. The following players took the field: Urdaniz - Gannon, Carpenter, Chapman, Leinauer - Morgan, Hämmerli, Özek, Fuller - Neale, Lacalle Cuvillo.

Burlington had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Kara - Solbakken, Bodenham, Schmook - bin Angking, Alberca, Igelflod, Bergh, van der Hoff - Nicholls, Gilad.

After 15 minutes, Burlington's W. bin Angking made his way through the middle and nonchalantly placed the ball out of the keeper's reach, putting the visitors up 0 - 1. H. Gilad of Burlington was booked for kicking the ball away after the whistle. With the clock showing 35 minutes played, a great pass from the defensive line of Brighton resulted in a counterattack that was smoothly brought under control by C. Carpenter in the centre of the opposition's penalty area, but his finish went high. 0 - 1 was the score after the first half. Burlington had most of the ball, with 63 percent of possession.

Some things can only be learned through experience, and T. Schmook should take his lesson to heart after nearly gifting Brighton a goal with 80 minutes of the match played. With 81 minutes played, D. Chapman of Brighton fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. H. Leinauer enjoyed the sunshine and demonstrated his stunning technique over and over again. With a shot curled in from just outside the middle of the penalty area after 85 minutes played, C. Lacalle Cuvillo of Brighton made the score 1 - 1. Brighton's K. Hämmerli tried to break through in the middle repeatedly, but couldn't get past the visitors' defenders. Possession in this half belonged to Burlington, who controlled the ball 56 percent of the time.

With the scores being level after 90 minutes, the match went into extra time. J. Alberca had a good opportunity to give Burlington the lead as he charged down the right and struck the ball towards the top corner, but the home team's goalkeeper made the save. Brighton took the lead 101 minutes in, as C. Morgan broke through on the left and put the 2 - 1 shot just beyond the reach of the outstretched keeper. Game over, Brighton win! Brighton's top performer was clearly A. Urdaniz. D. Chapman was a disappointment, however. Most important Burlington player was H. Gilad. However, R. Kara made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 2 - 1.