Cartagena 5 - 1 Numancia (367647739)

Weather conditions were fairly good for football, and Coliseum Cartagenero saw a crowd turnout of 8657. Dorel Pãdureanu was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Roni Liljeroos and Bjarne Eriksen. A 3-4-3 alignment was the formation of choice for Cartagena. The following players had been chosen: Parosti - Lyngaa, Cantoni, Navarrete - Franganillo, Fabuel, Rutland, Cosculluela - Martínez, Aponte, Rama.

Numancia decided to use a 3-4-3 set up. Lineup: Pastor León - Baeza, Astor, Bonmatí - Ustoa, Cabrer, Serradell, Gojenechea - Alcocer, Maestre, Hernando.

Numancia tried to focus their attacks down the middle. A lack of experience caused S. Cabrer to make a difficult dribble close to dangerous opponent S. Rutland of Cartagena, who took the opportunity to score making it 1 - 0. R. Lyngaa increased the lead for Cartagena to 2 - 0, 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! 14 minutes into the match, the visitors' central line of defence had to look on as D. Cosculluela broke through, making the score 3 - 0 for Cartagena. The home side's A. Martínez came close to extending the lead 23 minutes into the game. His shot came in from the right hand side but M. Pastor León managed to save it with an unbelievable reaction stop. With 31 minutes played, D. Aponte could have brought this one home for Cartagena as he charged up on the left, but his hooked ball went just a bit too high. After 32 minutes, R. Lyngaa put Cartagena ahead 4 - 0 when he rose to head in a cross from the right wing. Numancia's right side looked dangerous after 33 minutes, as A. Serradell broke through. C. Parosti continued to stifle them, however, as he made the save look easy. 4 - 0 was the score after the first half. Cartagena claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 56 percent.

Cartagena put in a good effort on the right, but D. Aponte saw his volley fly wide of the mark 47 minutes into the game. Although the whole team were struggling to impress, Numancia's L. Bonmatí was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 55 minutes. J. Nevado was given a chance to change things around. After 60 minutes, Numancia switched I. Alcocer with J. Fuentes Ros, hoping for a quick impact on the pitch. Numancia were determined to attack in the middle, even their wing attacks ended up centrally. 64 minutes in, X. Astor made an incredible run up the middle and nearly reduced the home side's lead, but C. Parosti refused to let the ball slip by him. A. Ustoa nearly reduced the lead 65 minutes into the game, but a splendid one-handed save by C. Parosti prevented the attempt coming in from the right flank from hitting the back of the net. Cartagena solidified their lead at the 69 minute mark, as A. Martínez dribbled the ball through the opposing central defence and scored to make it 5 - 0. Confident in their lead, Cartagena's players relaxed and focused more on defending the lead than increasing it. With 75 minutes played, the Numancia coach decided a substitution may help turn the game around. I. Caballera came on, A. Serradell had to leave the fray. Numancia reduced the lead after 80 minutes to 5 - 1 as J. Maestre easily chipped the ball past the home side's keeper after a dazzling play from the right. Neither team were able to dominate possession this half.

Cartagena's top performer was clearly D. Aponte. A. Martínez was a disappointment, however. The most dominating Numancia player was without a doubt J. Maestre. However, A. Ustoa made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 5 - 1.