Hidroquipa 2 - 1 P.T.H. (315585817)

The crowd of 59524 turning up at Santa Zita today were greeted with some nasty showers of rain. Inge Wiker was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Kjetil Bugge and John Ullman. Hidroquipa started off with a 3-4-3 lineup. The following players took the field: Puzzarini - Huhtanen, Karhusaari, Niane - Clemente, Pessoa, Ribas, Grafenauer - Absentenko, Gimenez, Araújo.

P.T.H. tactics involved an interesting 4-5-1 combination. Lineup: Lopes - Borges, Nobre, Anacleto, Barbosa - Sapata, Samora, Beira, Santos, Arenal - Domingos.

P.T.H. used their skill at pressing to cut off the attack angles of their opponents all over the field. E. Gimenez gave Hidroquipa the lead as he successfully challenged the guests' central defenders, then slotted the ball into the bottom corner, giving the keeper no chance. 1 - 0 The game was characterised by rough play and many physical challenges on the wet field, but E. Ribas showed great heart and had a good game. P.T.H.'s ability to press all over the field frequently paid dividends. It was a bad day for the usually speedy J. Clemente. The mud seemed to slow him down. P.T.H. tied it all up, 43 minutes in, after a spectacular goal by A. Arenal, who miraculously broke through the home side's central defence, making it 1 - 1. It was 1 - 1 at the break. Possession in this half belonged to Hidroquipa, who controlled the ball 54 percent of the time.

Some great play up the middle by Hidroquipa led to a chance for J. Clemente to score after 50 minutes, but the shot hit the crossbar. J. Clemente's early cross saw the defenders caught out of position and the alert E. Gimenez was able to pounce and roll the ball past the hapless goalkeeper to score for Hidroquipa. 2 - 1. P.T.H.'s talent at pressing frustrated the spectators as the game became a dire midfield struggle. Hidroquipa's J. Clemente somehow missed a penalty 72 minutes into the match, much to the crowd's displeasure. The rain made it hard for players like A. Arenal to show their technical control of the ball on this soggy day. After 88 minutes Hidroquipa's R. Puzzarini contracted a slight foot injury, but didn't want to leave the game. I. Huhtanen had a fantastic opportunity to put Hidroquipa up another goal 88 minutes into the match, but he fired just over the crossbar. P.T.H.'s M. Samora refused to leave the field after injuring his achilles tendon after 89 minutes. Hidroquipa had most of the ball, with 59 percent of possession.

Hidroquipa's best player was Z. Araújo. However, R. Puzzarini made a disastrous appearance. P.T.H.'s top performer was clearly M. Sapata. A. Arenal on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 2 - 1.