Kickers 3 - 2 Ruter7 (368319354)

It was an exceptionally sunny day for the crowd of 57371 that came out to St Joseph's Hospital. Antoni Musioł was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Ingo Islinger and Vadim Pantazi. A 3-4-3 alignment was the formation of choice for Kickers. They fielded: Gilke - Adolfsson, Roussakis, Gam - Ollila, Santen, Andersen, Snoeij - Figueiredo, Hulthin, Ventura.

Ruter7 decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. Starters: Arntsen - Sundby, Nerhus, Horster - Jakobsen, Troìa, Sekse, Dale, Benjaminsen - Fréry, Jakobsen.

Ruter7 saw most attack opportunities on the wings. Some good play on the left wing created an opportunity for the visitors 4 minutes into the match, and M. Jakobsen wasn't about to let it go by. He got past the defenders and fired a shot that the keeper just missed. 0 - 1 for the visitors. After a short break after 4 minutes, Ruter7 seemed to change their tactical approach a bit. Some fine passing in the middle of the pitch, carving open the away defence, should have led to a goal for Kickers, but O. Santen's shot went over the bar. L. Roussakis could have scored for Kickers with his free kick after 23 minutes, but the visitors' keeper just managed to get a hand on it. H. Andersen charged down the left and had a wonderful opportunity to score the equaliser for Kickers, but the shot went well wide of the goal. E. Sundby enjoyed the sunshine and demonstrated his stunning technique over and over again. With 34 minutes played, a quick exchange of passes on the left wing freed E. Sundby of Ruter7 to slip through the defence and score another goal for the visitors. That made the score 0 - 2. M. Jakobsen wanted to play on, but the Ruter7 coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 35 minutes into the game by J. Nilsen. 0 - 2 was the halftime score. Kickers claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 52 percent.

53 minutes into the match, Kickers's P. Gam collected a ball sent down the right and put it in the back of the net, narrowing the score to 1 - 2. R. Adolfsson showed the skills that make him a real crowd pleaser as he, after 54 minutes, wove through the guests' entire central defence and put the 2 - 2 equaliser away. As the 60 minute mark approached, the Ruter7 coach decided it was time for a substitution. S. Troìa reluctantly made way for G. Tomter on the pitch. A swift counterattack by Kickers resulted in a free kick that L. Roussakis elegantly twisted into the goal - 3 - 2! The Kickers players could smell victory in the air. O. Santen wasn't in a hurry to leave the field as he was substituted for F. Kristoffersen after 65 minutes. R. Hulthin should probably have put his team up another goal after 67 minutes, but some great goalkeeping by K. Arntsen kept the visitors in the game. Kickers's F. Kristoffersen swung in a good chance from the left, but the visitors' defence were able to clear the ball. As the game started to slip away for Ruter7, the manager decided to change the tactical approach. Kickers enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 52 percent of possession.

Kickers's top performer was clearly L. Roussakis. F. Kristoffersen was a disappointment, however. Most important Ruter7 player was A. Fréry. On the other hand, K. Arntsen's play was disheartening. The match ends 3 - 2.