I`gara 4 - 2 Damotamo (361355793)

14000 spectators arrived at fire stadium, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Mehmet Yergin was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Alfonso Abeeta and Stefan Bidner. I`gara tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Toti - Kirmizas, Cunha, Kottmann - Meza, Iturricha, Giacomini, Vaarmets, Sol - Maser, Boute.

Damotamo decided to use a 5-4-1 set up. They fielded: Carralón - Johnson, Tutor, Larrauri, Puerto, Bozhinov - Caurel, Ezcarte, Guamis, Crespos - Gil.

I`gara mostly ignored the flanks in favour of their ability to attack in the middle. S. Bozhinov's lack of experience almost gave I`gara a goal after 11 minutes, but the shot went right into the keeper's arms. 16 minutes in, the referee awarded I`gara a penalty. K. Giacomini coolly slotted it home for a 1 - 0 lead. With 17 minutes played, I`gara put themselves up 2 - 0 when the visiting defenders lost the ball to D. Maser, who came up from the left and proceeded to coolly round the keeper and knock the ball home. By now, the players in I`gara felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. After 19 minutes, N. Crespos replied with a fantastic free kick and the ball went in off the bar. 2 - 1. K. Giacomini's curling free kick almost found the goal for I`gara, but the visitors' keeper somehow managed to get ahold of it. With 25 minutes played, T. Boute could have brought this one home for I`gara as he charged up on the left, but his hooked ball went just a bit too high. In a rapid move 26 minutes into the match, G. Meza of I`gara lost his man and passed the ball to the unmarked D. Maser who easily hit it home to make it 3 - 1. Luckily the ref didn't see him taunting the opposing fans in celebration - naughty boy! 3 - 1 was the halftime score. Possession in this half belonged to I`gara, who controlled the ball 54 percent of the time.

Although the whole team were struggling to impress, Damotamo's J. Guamis was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 46 minutes. E. Moro was given a chance to change things around. Damotamo needed a fresh pair of legs on the field, and after 46 minutes A. Caurel made way for M. Antunes. The bench was restless, and with 46 minutes passed Damotamo's coach gave J. Setón the opportunity the player had been hoping for. P. Tutor reluctantly left the field. Damotamo had a fair chance to reply after 62 minutes due to some fine moves down the left, but in the end L. Johnson was slow to keep up with the play and was unable to make it into the penalty box to apply a finish. Damotamo breathed new life into the game with an opportunity to reduce the score after 63 minutes, but the home side's defenders cleared the ball on the line, after a long shot coming in from the left rebounded off the crossbar. Damotamo's L. Gil got himself booked for a foul. 73 minutes into the game, Damotamo's attack got through on the right, but L. Gil couldn't handle the ball and his feeble kick wound up in the keeper's arms. I`gara increased the lead as T. Boute struck to make the score 4 - 1 after an attack from the left left him unmarked in front of the keeper. T. Boute wanted to play on, but the I`gara coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 75 minutes into the game by R. Brienesse. After a savage shot that could only be parried by the keeper, L. Gil demonstrated his experience by being in just the right place to slot home the rebound. His goal for Damotamo 78 minutes into the match made the score 4 - 2. A penalty 79 minutes into the game gave the home side a chance at adding to the score, but an overconfident K. Giacomini shot the ball wide trying to put it away in the top corner. With 80 minutes gone, a long pass from the defence of Damotamo resulted in a counterattack that set P. Ezcarte free through the middle, but the keeper made a spectacular diving save. Damotamo claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 56 percent.

Most important I`gara player was E. Vaarmets. However, F. Toti made a disastrous appearance. Damotamo's top performer was clearly L. Gil. On the other hand, J. Setón's play was disheartening. The match ends 4 - 2.