BeNvIn 1 - 5 Ridge (374620677)

44043 punters turned up at The Barrel Arena, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came. Vincenzo Guerrini was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Mikey Lee and Sergei Armengol. A 5-4-1 alignment was the formation of choice for BeNvIn. They fielded: Yngvesson - Provenzale, Gamberini, Schoeffmann, Ahn, Toorenaar - van der Heiden, Mayer, Michaelsen, Nunes - Meziane.

Ridge tactics involved an interesting 3-4-3 combination. Starters: Jacops - Teodorini, Sillato, Ruiz Gavero - Lapolla, Hauzeneder, Ros, Van Herck - Mpourantakis, Strâmbu, Glannerbrug.

BeNvIn broke through on the left 21 minutes into the game, with W. van der Heiden firing in from an acute angle to give the home side a 1 - 0 lead. The visiting team's J. Ros was able to score the 1 - 1 equaliser with a header 24 minutes into the match, after some good work on the right. The terraces were silenced after 26 minutes when Ridge's P. Teodorini put the guests ahead 1 - 2, following an attack on the right. M. Sillato fired a shot from distance after 27 minutes, but the long shot couldn't find the net for Ridge. Halftime score was 1 - 2. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Ridge, with 59 percent of the ball.

S. Ciubotaru was called on to replace BeNvIn's L. Mayer after 78 minutes following a nasty collision. C. Strâmbu received a delicate pass through the home side's central defence after 81 minutes, and chipped it past the flailing keeper to score making it 1 - 3. The Ridge fans went wild, whilst the home fans started to think about leaving early. With 82 minutes played, Ridge put themselves up 1 - 4 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. The scorer was M. Van Herck. The visitors' C. Strâmbu took advantage of a misunderstanding between the home side's goalie and centre backs 85 minutes into the match. 1 - 5 for Ridge. By now, the players in Ridge felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. J. Ahn of BeNvIn was booked for kicking the ball away after the whistle. BeNvIn's W. van der Heiden had a nice free kick routine after 88 minutes that was very close to paying off, had it not been for a dramatic save by the visitors' keeper. Ridge claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 64 percent.

Most important BeNvIn player was A. Yngvesson. W. van der Heiden turned in a dismal performance, however. N. Mpourantakis performed admirably for Ridge. However, P. Teodorini made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 1 - 5.