Fervor 2 - 0 Spaniard (374501365)

The crowd of 20795 turning up at Fervor Arena today were greeted with some nasty showers of rain. Cristoff Salesch was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Eugen Loučka and Armantas Padriačikovas. Fervor decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. Starters: Ralea - Misstear, Sabatier, Rio - Bojaxhiu, Luirink, Bruyninckx, Lecossois, Vanquelet - Palma, Gayot.

Spaniard tactics involved an interesting 4-4-2 combination. Lineup: Bailey - Cowperthwaite, Whitehead, McCarthy, Howell - Shattock, Blackshaw, Howson, Wong - Harding, Rohrich.

Fervor took a creative approach on the field. J. Lecossois spent most of the time in a heap on the ground today, his normally rapid movement hindered by the slippery pitch. R. Rohrich was uncomfortable with the soggy pitch as he couldn't move the ball around with his usual grace. Some great play up the middle by Fervor led to a chance for A. Palma to score after 20 minutes, but the shot hit the crossbar. F. Vanquelet didn't let the weather get him down and made some great moves on the pitch in spite of the rain. With 26 minutes played, the home side managed to get a 1 - 0 lead as C. Gayot flipped the ball in after a cross from the right. A magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Fervor's A. Sabatier increasing the lead to 2 - 0. At this point, it was obvious that the players of Fervor lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. 2 - 0 was the score after the first half. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Fervor, with 75 percent of the ball.

V. Bojaxhiu should probably have put his team up another goal after 79 minutes, but some great goalkeeping by I. Bailey kept the visitors in the game. A. Palma could have increased the lead after 83 minutes, but his shot hit the post after a nice combination in the middle of the park. With 84 minutes played, J. Bruyninckx of Fervor fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. After 85 minutes, a couple of quick and successful challenges followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area by V. Bojaxhiu might have resulted in another goal for Fervor. However, I. Bailey made a spectacular save. Fervor had most of the ball, with 74 percent of possession.

Fervor's top performer was clearly A. Palma. D. Misstear on the other hand, had a terrible day. Spaniard's best player was J. Howell. On the other hand, E. McCarthy's play was disheartening. The match ends 2 - 0.