Tornado 2 - 3 Carroll (374459208)

The crowd of 25979 turning up at Aga S Stadium today were greeted with some nasty showers of rain. Tomas Gädicke was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Adolfo Sascaró and Bjarne Mønsted. Tornado decided to use a 4-4-2 set up. They fielded: Hagedoorn - Bußler, Petrinec, Lichtenstein, Manzolini - Varjas, Tábori, Juran, Diabi - Maher, Vandenbogaerde.

A 3-4-3 alignment was the formation of choice for Carroll. The following players had been chosen: Friebel - Dubielak, Polenok, Münim - Horsfall, Martín, Eilersen, Wheen - Martins, Miche, Hodek.

After 17 minutes, Carroll sent a free kick in high over the penalty box. In what looked like a well-rehearsed move, the ball was headed backwards and reached P. Martins, who had plenty of space to place a well aimed shot - 0 - 1. P. Martins slipped and slithered in the wet grass. His usual rapid runs were nowhere to be seen today. G. Horsfall's early cross saw the defenders caught out of position and the alert P. Martins was able to pounce and roll the ball past the hapless goalkeeper to score for Carroll. 0 - 2. By now, the players in Carroll felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. The home crowd was not impressed when R. Miche came in from the right, shooting hard to score after 28 minutes. Carroll were now up 0 - 3. Halftime score was 0 - 3. Tornado enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 59 percent of possession.

Tornado had a brilliant opportunity to reply as P. Manzolini received a high ball from the right, striking the ball in the air. Only A. Friebel's reflexes saved him. Some things can only be learned through experience, and B. Petrinec should take his lesson to heart after nearly gifting Carroll a goal with 71 minutes of the match played. After 76 minutes Tornado's A. Tábori limped slightly after a late challenge, but he was able to continue. Tornado's C. Diabi got the home crowd going when he finished off a left wing charge, reducing the away team's lead to 1 - 3. Tornado didn't give in and with 82 minutes played B. Vandenbogaerde was able to make the score 2 - 3 after an attack on the right. Tornado claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 62 percent.

Most important Tornado player was C. Diabi. On the other hand, K. Hagedoorn's play was disheartening. M. Hodek performed admirably for Carroll. M. Eilersen on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 2 - 3.