Herminene 0 - 5 Herkules-IF (368388098)

12000 fans braved the pouring rain at DIGGER Arena. Mickaël Jacon was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Cristian Mossa and Kornelius Berndl. Herminene started off with a 4-4-2 lineup. Starters: Berntsen - Seland, Landro, Veiby, Ree - Nilsen, Solberg, Tufteland, Lidsheim - Henriksen, Dybvik.

Herkules-IF had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Bro - Nilsen, Gjerding, Milde, Lindstrøm - Sundseth, Hansen, Elvemo, Aas - Strøm, Wegdahl.

A. Hansen came close to putting the visiting team one up 5 minutes into the match, following a solo raid down the middle, but B. Berntsen managed to tip the ball to a corner. The home crowd was not impressed by the fancy moves of Herkules-IF's T. Wegdahl after 10 minutes. He converted a pass from the left for a goal, resulting in the visitors taking the 0 - 1 lead. Herkules-IF increased their lead after 12 minutes when M. Nilsen broke through on the right, upping the score to 0 - 2, much to the home crowd's dismay. At this point, it was obvious that the players of Herkules-IF lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. M. Nilsen increased Herkules-IF's lead to 0 - 3 with a superb free kick strike that flew in just under the far top corner. The teams went for the halftime break at 0 - 3. Herkules-IF enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 63 percent of possession.

T. Strøm was uncomfortable with the soggy pitch as he couldn't move the ball around with his usual grace. The home crowd was not impressed when M. Aas came in from the right, shooting hard to score after 85 minutes. Herkules-IF were now up 0 - 4. T. Strøm's fine footwork caused nothing but headaches for E. Landro. The keeper wasn't fooled however, and confidently scooped up the ball. With 88 minutes played, Herkules-IF's well-worked indirect free kick caused havoc in the penalty area, and when the ball eventually fell to J. Lindstrøm he gleefully slotted the ball home to make it 0 - 5. Herkules-IF's A. Hansen made it through the home team's defence on the right hand side 89 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. After the ball was lifted in from the left, T. Sundseth was on his own in the home side's penalty area and should have scored after 89 minutes, but missed, probably due to lack of concentration. Herkules-IF had most of the ball, with 62 percent of possession.

Herminene's top performer was clearly R. Nilsen. N. Veiby was a disappointment, however. Most important Herkules-IF player was M. Nilsen. However, N. Elvemo made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 0 - 5.