Weissherbst 2 - 6 CotN (302189623)

It was an exceptionally sunny day for the crowd of 24722 that came out to Wingertsberg Arena. Marc Carey was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Ulf Deidre and Jesús Rubio. A 2-5-3 alignment was the formation of choice for Weissherbst. They fielded: Baleda - Hanegraef, Ferraz - Paesschesoone, Oran, Mayans, Bakos, Loidolt - Notaro, Ranuzzi, Dejneka.

CotN started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Starters: Vernon - Covino, Marino, Siegl - Wollek, Fürnkranz, Brudl, Stefanek, Bercsányi - Rondelli, Taveira.

Some good play on the left wing created an opportunity for the visitors 9 minutes into the match, and A. Fürnkranz wasn't about to let it go by. He got past the defenders and fired a shot that the keeper just missed. 0 - 1 for the visitors. A. Paesschesoone made a superb strike after 19 minutes with a shot straight in front of the goal after a long ball through the middle, but one of the visitors' defenders got a foot in at the last second and warded it off for a corner. Although the whole team were struggling to impress, Weissherbst's V. Baleda was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 20 minutes. A. Grimaud was given a chance to change things around. A. Paesschesoone of Weissherbst seemed to be floating in the air as he elegantly headed in to make the score 1 - 1 after a corner kick that was nicely executed by M. Ferraz. A mistake by the home side's central defence after 35 minutes allowed A. Fürnkranz to score for CotN. The scoreboard now read 1 - 2. J. Rondelli of CotN was able to make an impressive rush past the sluggish M. Ferraz, which resulted in a goal making the score 1 - 3. Confident in their lead, CotN's players relaxed and focused more on defending the lead than increasing it. With 40 minutes played, the Weissherbst coach decided a substitution may help turn the game around. T. Maintier came on, M. Ferraz had to leave the fray. 40 minutes into the match, Weissherbst's C. Notaro collected a ball sent down the right and put it in the back of the net, narrowing the score to 2 - 3. It was 2 - 3 at the break. Weissherbst enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 51 percent of possession.

Weissherbst needed a fresh pair of legs on the field, and after 46 minutes C. Notaro made way for M. Ponce. With 52 minutes played, a quick exchange of passes on the left wing freed X. Taveira of CotN to slip through the defence and score another goal for the visitors. That made the score 2 - 4. The referee showed CotN's O. Covino the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. CotN increased the lead to 2 - 5 as J. Rondelli scored from the penalty spot, putting the ball in near the top left corner. J. Rondelli found it hard to catch his breath today in the stifling heat. A drive down the left side allowed X. Taveira to get in close and score another goal for CotN after 82 minutes, taking the score to 2 - 6. Weissherbst had most of the ball, with 53 percent of possession.

Weissherbst's top performer was clearly S. Mayans. R. Hanegraef was a disappointment, however. CotN's best player was J. Rondelli. On the other hand, M. Brudl's play was disheartening. The match ends 2 - 6.