casti 1 - 1 Balldovina (367355802)

The 32559 spectators at la calzada were in for an afternoon of sunshine. Widar Danielsson was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Alexei Satin and Aristomenis Katzos. casti decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. Starters: Iñurrategi - Paillalef, Bestué, Möttölä - Morel, Burel, Vivar, Kottke, Iturbide - Lindsey, Everts.

Balldovina had chosen a strategic 4-3-3 formation. They fielded: Manso - Melià, Ciudad, Ascarrunz, Grosskopf - Lanza, Rodríguez Barba, Aña - Marín, Lanhoso, Montero.

Using their counter-attacking abilities was the strategy of choice for Balldovina. Some great play up the middle by casti led to a chance for S. Burel to score after 4 minutes, but the shot hit the crossbar. Good work by the Balldovina defensive line after 5 minutes produced a good counterattack chance, which cut elegantly down the middle of the pitch and found G. Melià alone in front of the goal, but his shot whistled just wide. Balldovina's M. Rodríguez Barba was shown a yellow card after 11 minutes for slicing down an opponent. A. Lindsey of casti had to be helped off the pitch as an injury meant he was unable to finish the game. A. Iturricha came in to finish the match. 18 minutes into the game, a swerving free kick by Y. Kottke almost resulted in the home team taking the lead, but the shot glanced harmlessly off the frame of the goal. After 26 minutes, casti's R. Paillalef fell awkwardly, but was determined to stay in the match. That's the spirit! 0 - 0 was the score after the first half. Possession in this half belonged to casti, who controlled the ball 70 percent of the time.

S. Aña's speed is always a threat when he gets a little room to move, and 60 minutes into the match was no different as he broke free of his man to send a delightful through ball to J. Lanhoso who knocked it in for Balldovina. 0 - 1! The bench was restless, and with 69 minutes passed casti's coach gave N. Iamartino the opportunity the player had been hoping for. G. Vivar reluctantly left the field. The heat made it a terrible day for N. Bestué, who seemed unable to keep up with the other players. After 74 minutes, T. Morel got through on the right and was very close to equalising for the home side, but didn't get the shot away. M. Rodríguez Barba wanted to play on, but the Balldovina coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 75 minutes into the game by A. Pobo. L. Iturbide made a superb strike after 75 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. casti will have to do without N. Iamartino for a time, due to a bad foot injury at the 78 minute mark. He was substituted by J. García de Barbón. A well placed corner kick from Y. Kottke was followed by A. Iturricha's hard but accurate header. The well executed routine resulted in a goal for casti, the score now 1 - 1. casti claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 64 percent.

casti's best player was Y. Kottke. B. Iñurrategi turned in a dismal performance, however. J. Lanhoso performed admirably for Balldovina. On the other hand, R. Ascarrunz's play was disheartening. The match ends 1 - 1.