Balloon 5 - 1 bucuresti (363707409)

Dark skies made the crowd of 1199 at Colosseo a little nervous, but the rain held off. Jani Bono was the appointed referee with assistance provided by André Monnier and Anselmo Comes-Franchini. Balloon tactics involved an interesting 5-4-1 combination. They fielded: Ghirello - Lamberts, Güler, Looms, Soares Carvalho, Estévez - Pietropaolo, Nelli, Lunden, Demuro - Borchardt.

bucuresti decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. Starters: Magie - Matei, Floroi, Kisistók - Nicola, Lupu, Bogheanu, Arghiropol, Purice - Corbeanu, Rădiţă.

Balloon were relying on their ability to counter-attack. Using their counter-attacking abilities was the strategy of choice for bucuresti. After 6 minutes, S. Güler sent the corner kick right to W. Lamberts who headed it sharply past the keeper. 1 - 0! Coming from the right, E. Demuro almost managed to score another goal for Balloon, but his header was tipped over the bar by the visitors' keeper. The goal to make it 1 - 1 was scored by D. Corbeanu after 23 minutes, following an opportunistic counterattack down the middle by bucuresti. After 25 minutes, the defensive line of bucuresti created a counterattack through the middle that gave S. Bogheanu a good look at the goal, but his shot glanced harmlessly off the crossbar. After 31 minutes, there was a bit of a mixup on the field as bucuresti found themselves out of position and their organisation level dropped to passable. Balloon fans held their breath as M. Nelli scampered down the left side. He successfully avoided all challenges and cracked home the shot for 2 - 1! S. Pietropaolo increased the lead for Balloon to 3 - 1, getting a head onto a hooked ball from the right. The ball looked to have taken a deflection on the way in, but he's claiming it! 39 minutes into the game, W. Lamberts had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came T. de Koning. 3 - 1 was the halftime score. Possession in this half belonged to Balloon, who controlled the ball 70 percent of the time.

Despite his frustration resulting in the smashing of a few teacups, the coach of bucuresti was able to get his message across, and raised bucuresti's organisation to solid. Although the whole team were struggling to impress, bucuresti's I. Floroi was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 50 minutes. F. Sabou was given a chance to change things around. Balloon increased the lead as R. Estévez struck to make the score 4 - 1 after an attack from the left left him unmarked in front of the keeper. bucuresti needed a fresh pair of legs on the field, and after 53 minutes C. Nicola made way for S. Patraulea. After 53 minutes, N. Borchardt put Balloon ahead 5 - 1 when he rose to head in a cross from the right wing. At this point, it was obvious that the players of Balloon lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. 56 minutes into the game, bucuresti seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion and they fell to a inadequate level of organisation. After 60 minutes, bucuresti switched M. Rădiţă with M. Necula, hoping for a quick impact on the pitch. 63 minutes into the game, bucuresti had difficulty finding their positions and their organisation dropped to weak. S. Soares Carvalho could have increased the lead after 67 minutes, but his shot hit the post after a nice combination in the middle of the park. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Balloon, with 72 percent of the ball.

The most dominating Balloon player was without a doubt N. Borchardt. On the other hand, T. de Koning's play was disheartening. bucuresti's top performer was clearly S. Bogheanu. M. Necula on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 5 - 1.