FORZA@M.V.V. 1 - 4 Leek (374836584)

Clear skies welcomed the 12000 spectators who had made their way to FORZ@*M.V.V. Arena*. Dieter Neubauer was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Mieczysław Drewniok and Dominik Quednow. FORZA@M.V.V. tactics involved an interesting 4-4-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: van Kuik - Baggermans, Zuiderveld, Bouw, Coulen - Holthaus, van Weel, Heistek, Mulhoff - van Schaaik, ter Horst.

Leek had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. Starters: Lamminaho - Aurigemma, Wójtowicz, Ketting, Janc - Jagodziak, Aalten, Cabezas, Elsinga - Neve, Keunen.

Leek were mostly trying to use their skill at attacking on the flanks. After 14 minutes, Leek's J. Wójtowicz made his way through the middle and nonchalantly placed the ball out of the keeper's reach, putting the visitors up 0 - 1. The home crowd cheered when, after 23 minutes, J. Neve's charge up the middle resulted in the keeper making one of his best saves of the day. 27 minutes into the game, T. Ketting had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came K. van Kuik. W. ter Horst charged down the left and had a wonderful opportunity to score the equaliser for FORZA@M.V.V., but the shot went well wide of the goal. Leek had a good opportunity to attack in the middle, but remembered their instructions to focus on wing attacks instead. The home crowd was not impressed when A. Elsinga came in from the right, shooting hard to score after 32 minutes. Leek were now up 0 - 2. It was 0 - 2 at the break. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Leek, with 64 percent of the ball.

After 62 minutes a well-practised indirect free kick routine by Leek was easily anticipated by the defenders. The players forward were so well marked, they were left with few viable options. Leek were determined to attack on the wing and their central attempts were constantly abandoned in favour of the wings. Leek came close to extending their lead as A. Elsinga delivered a low effort on goal from the right after 64 minutes, but the angle was too narrow and the shot went harmlessly into the side netting. FORZA@M.V.V. showed their counterattack skill 65 minutes into the match by breaking through the middle, with J. van Weel scoring uncontested for 1 - 2. Leek increased their lead after 72 minutes when J. Neve broke through on the right, upping the score to 1 - 3, much to the home crowd's dismay. M. Wamelink was called on to replace FORZA@M.V.V.'s F. Baggermans after 76 minutes following a nasty collision. W. ter Horst became the new FORZA@M.V.V. captain. Attacking on the wings was the choice for Leek, and they were successfully passing the ball from the middle to the wings to attack. A drive down the left side allowed J. Neve to get in close and score another goal for Leek after 83 minutes, taking the score to 1 - 4. By now, the players in Leek felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. With 85 minutes played, A. Elsinga of Leek fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. Leek's J. Lamminaho left the field after 86 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was F. Humalda. Possession in this half belonged to Leek, who controlled the ball 70 percent of the time.

The most dominating FORZA@M.V.V. player was without a doubt W. ter Horst. G. van Kuik turned in a dismal performance, however. J. Neve performed admirably for Leek. K. van Kuik was a disappointment, however. The match ends 1 - 4.