Over 2 - 1 Ruter7 (368319384)

Dark skies made the crowd of 65000 at New Anfield a little nervous, but the rain held off. Ctibor Čureja was the appointed referee with assistance provided by John Rönnbom and Floyd Brinson. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Over. Lineup: Skulberg - Hazard, Fagerli, Keizer - Wakelam, Nordstrand, Gia, Cervati, Mather - Mena, Hjortborg.

Ruter7 had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Arntsen - Sundby, Nerhus, Horster - Jakobsen, Tomter, Dale, Sekse, Benjaminsen - Fréry, Jakobsen.

The guests took the lead 2 minutes into the match, after a right-side attack resulted in K. Dale scoring to make it 0 - 1. L. Benjaminsen made a nice dash down the wing after 5 minutes, but was unable to get the cross into the box. A goal kick was awarded. Over's K. Nordstrand made an attempt at equalising 7 minutes into the match, coming in from the right, but the ball hit the post and the defence easily cleared the rebound. With the scoreboard showing that 20 minutes had been played, Ruter7 nearly put themselves up another goal after L. Benjaminsen came through on the left. Fortunately for the home crowd, the keeper made the save. Over's R. Gia put his head to a high ball coming in from the right after 27 minutes, but the ball went wide. After a short break after 30 minutes, Ruter7 seemed to change their tactical approach a bit. No matter how hard he tried, M. Wakelam just couldn't get his shot past the visitors' right side defence after 31 minutes. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave R. Gia from Over a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 33 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! Over's M. Wakelam had to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines, after twisting his ankle with 40 minutes having been played. R. Kristiansen was the replacement. 0 - 1 was the halftime score. Over enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 54 percent of possession.

As the game started to slip away for Over, the manager decided to change the tactical approach. The Over players listened closely to their manager, as he gave new tactical instructions for the team. Ruter7's M. Jakobsen made it through the home team's defence on the right hand side 46 minutes into the match. After rounding the keeper, he only had to place the ball in the unguarded goal when a defender slid in and cleared the ball off the line. F. Keizer was in the clear after breaking the offside trap following a Over counterattack from the left after 47 minutes. His neat finish made the score 1 - 1. M. Cervati hit the ball perfectly after 68 minutes to score for Over with a fabulous long shot. 2 - 1. Although the whole team were struggling to impress, Ruter7's G. Tomter was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 70 minutes. H. Rasmussen was given a chance to change things around. Unhappy with the result so far in the game, the Ruter7 manager used a brief break in play after 72 minutes to give the players new directives. A great save by keeper K. Arntsen after 77 minutes kept the visitors in the game after F. Hjortborg struck from the left with a real cannonball. With 78 minutes gone, a long pass from the defence of Ruter7 resulted in a counterattack that set K. Dale free through the middle, but the keeper made a spectacular diving save. Over's H. Fagerli was shown a yellow card after 79 minutes for slicing down an opponent. After 80 minutes, a couple of quick and successful challenges followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area by M. Cervati might have resulted in another goal for Over. However, K. Arntsen made a spectacular save. Over claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 51 percent.

Over's top performer was clearly K. Nordstrand. On the other hand, R. Kristiansen's play was disheartening. The most dominating Ruter7 player was without a doubt A. Fréry. S. Horster was a disappointment, however. The match ends 2 - 1.