Athletic 1 - 1 Bongos (374449966)

It had rained all day, but 62959 hardy fans still made it out to The Ayerside. Athletic tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. They fielded: Birney - Catterall, Pace, Fitzpatrick - Lampard, Cleary, Newman Spaul, Baxendale, Laurin - LeBlanc, Skinner.

Bongos decided to use a 4-5-1 set up. Starters: Lanza - Torrão, Ellard, Trasmonte, Skov-Jensen - Rønnov, Broendsted, Mäkiollitervo, von Fischer-Treuenfeld, Stefanutti - Bartoli.

Bongos saw most attack opportunities on the wings. A. Catterall sailed high above the opponents as he headed in a corner kick from C. LeBlanc after 10 minutes of play, making the score 1 - 0. After 21 minutes, the visitors tied it up at 1 - 1 when a fantastic pass from the left was finished off by B. Skov-Jensen. It was 1 - 1 at the break. Athletic claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 63 percent.

55 minutes into the match, the Athletic manager wanted to try a new tactic, and the players loyally obliged. Slack defending gave Athletic a chance to take the lead with 70 minutes played, but M. Skinner's cross from the left flank was fumbled in front of the goal and easily dealt with by the opposition. Always quick on his feet, Athletic's A. Laurin sped down the field after 75 minutes, but his pass to M. Skinner was just a bit too far ahead for him to get a good shot off. The home crowd breathed a collective sigh of relief when O. Mäkiollitervo was unable to put the ball in the net after his show of skill down the left 77 minutes into the match. He was seen beating the pitch in frustration at missing such a good chance to give his team the lead! Athletic had most of the ball, with 65 percent of possession.

Most important Athletic player was F. Baxendale. W. Lampard was a disappointment, however. P. Bartoli performed admirably for Bongos. On the other hand, C. Broendsted's play was disheartening. The match ends 1 - 1.