R9fútbol 0 - 10 Crusaders (270853323)

Dark skies made the crowd of 12000 at Estadio R9 a little nervous, but the rain held off. Joakim Johansson was the appointed referee with assistance provided by El Zuidhof and Casiopeo Téllez. R9fútbol started off with a 4-4-2 lineup. Starters: Stanford - Hernández, Stubblefield, Atkinson, Covington - Hurst, Vu, Reid, Allen - Mcleod, Mcghee.

Crusaders had chosen a strategic 4-3-3 formation. They fielded: Cardon - Cutler, Szabados, 汝圭 (Rugui) , Byrne - Uziel, Ferreccio, Spaenkuch - Quigley, Wright, Godes.

Crusaders seemed to prefer attacking in the middle. B. Ferreccio gave the visitors the lead 2 minutes into the match to make it 0 - 1. The goal was scored from the penalty spot after a handball in the penalty area. A. Szabados of Crusaders took advantage of a mistake on the home side's right after 9 minutes which increased the away team's lead to 0 - 2. W. Cutler increased the visitors' lead by putting a volley away after a pass from the right. 0 - 3. The players of Crusaders now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. The visitors' B. Ferreccio took advantage of a misunderstanding between the home side's goalie and centre backs 22 minutes into the match. 0 - 4 for Crusaders. After 24 minutes, Crusaders sent a free kick in high over the penalty box. In what looked like a well-rehearsed move, the ball was headed backwards and reached G. Wright, who had plenty of space to place a well aimed shot - 0 - 5. Halftime score was 0 - 5. Crusaders had most of the ball, with 85 percent of possession.

The visitors added to their lead 64 minutes into the game, after a sensational penalty kick by Crusaders's B. Ferreccio slid just past the home keeper. 0 - 6. That made three goals for B. Ferreccio and he was marked down for the hat trick. A drive down the left side allowed P. Godes to get in close and score another goal for Crusaders after 66 minutes, taking the score to 0 - 7. After 73 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for R. Quigley who increased Crusaders's lead to 0 - 8. After 74 minutes, an incisive pass through the middle gave G. Wright a chance to increase the lead for Crusaders, and he did not disappoint. The score was then 0 - 9. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave J. Vu from R9fútbol a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 75 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! P. Godes received a delicate pass through the home side's central defence after 84 minutes, and chipped it past the flailing keeper to score making it 0 - 10. The Crusaders fans went wild, whilst the home fans started to think about leaving early. Crusaders's S. Byrne got himself booked for a foul. Due to a severely mistimed tackle, G. Stubblefield of R9fútbol spent some time on the grass writhing in agony before he could get up and continue the game. Crusaders claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 87 percent.

S. Hernández performed admirably for R9fútbol. M. Stanford turned in a dismal performance, however. The most dominating Crusaders player was without a doubt R. Quigley. B. Ferreccio was a disappointment, however. The match ends 0 - 10.