Valmo 3 - 1 Schwalbe (374639148)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 61227 at Valmoborg today. Erich de Sluijper was the appointed referee. People from all over Groningen had joined up for the derby. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Valmo. Starters: Hasselstål - Sira, Bardill, Derman - Viitalähde, Atanasov, Botzen, Salas Guzmán, Alsoy - Vagrande, Rautio.

Schwalbe decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. The following players took the field: Magnetti - Julien, Chizhikov, Calbijo - Kublar-Glueck, Lizardi, Jové, Klimeck, Eedema - Abrantes, Lund.

The wings were the focus of most of Valmo's attacks today. With 4 minutes played, the home side managed to get a 1 - 0 lead as A. Vagrande flipped the ball in after a cross from the right. B. Alsoy should probably have put his team up another goal after 11 minutes, but some great goalkeeping by G. Magnetti kept the visitors in the game. The home side's B. Derman came close to extending the lead 14 minutes into the game. His shot came in from the right hand side but G. Magnetti managed to save it with an unbelievable reaction stop. Valmo's R. Rautio struck his penalty well enough to beat the goalkeeper and extend the home team's lead to 2 - 0 after 19 minutes. Halftime score was 2 - 0. Valmo had most of the ball, with 52 percent of possession.

Schwalbe fought on and, after 52 minutes, H. Lund was able to reduce the deficit to 2 - 1 after some excellent moves on the right side were finished off with an incredibly clever chip. After 59 minutes Schwalbe's G. Lizardi contracted a slight foot injury, but didn't want to leave the game. After 66 minutes, R. Rautio sent the corner kick right to B. Derman who headed it sharply past the keeper. 3 - 1! The bench was restless, and with 69 minutes passed Schwalbe's coach gave M. Düş the opportunity the player had been hoping for. C. Julien reluctantly left the field. The Schwalbe players listened closely to their manager, as he gave new tactical instructions for the team. Schwalbe enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 52 percent of possession.

Most important Valmo player was R. Rautio. B. Derman on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Schwalbe player was without a doubt H. Lund. G. Magnetti turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 3 - 1.