Paxeko 4 - 2 martoko (377465211)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 533 at Paxeko Stadium today. Serge Büsser was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Viktoras Kaminaroglou and Juan Carlos Laina. Paxeko started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Starters: Martínez Delgado - Gniwek, Climent, Pires - Piccioli, D'Agostino, Mohi, Meyer, Tamagnone - Garret, Recio.

A 5-3-2 alignment was the formation of choice for martoko. The following players had been chosen: Kréta - Manzano Ruiz, Quedlinburg, Barrés, Díaz de Ledesma, Gehrold - Baardman, Sánchez Valera, Bahbahani - Alcántara, Santiesteban.

martoko saw most attack opportunities on the wings. B. Gehrold received some harsh words from his coach after he acted foolishly 9 minutes into the match, probably out of lack of experience, and almost let an opponent score. Paxeko were very close to putting themselves one up after 25 minutes as J. Recio got through on the left, but failing in concentration, he shot the ball wide. Paxeko broke through on the left 28 minutes into the game, with B. Pires firing in from an acute angle to give the home side a 1 - 0 lead. 32 minutes in, martoko appeared unsure on how to play and their organisation was only poor. The visitors were awarded a penalty by the referee 36 minutes into the match, much to the anger of the home crowd. L. Alcántara took advantage of the situation and scored to make it 1 - 1. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, L. Barrés got himself booked. The manager of martoko was not happy. The home side put themselves ahead 2 - 1 after 39 minutes courtesy of a breakthrough from A. Mohi, who scored with a stunning volley following a cross from the right wing. R. Garret could have put Paxeko up one more, but he fired into the side netting after breaking free on the left after 43 minutes. Halftime score was 2 - 1. Paxeko enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 73 percent of possession.

During the break, martoko's coach went through the team's tactics yet again, getting them up to passable organisation. A. Piccioli was the first to reach the corner kick, but his header was blocked by the keeper. However, Paxeko's M. Climent managed to get hold of the rebound and tucked the ball into the empty net. 3 - 1 The home side's A. Piccioli came close to extending the lead 75 minutes into the game. His shot came in from the right hand side but S. Kréta managed to save it with an unbelievable reaction stop. S. Bahbahani was in the clear after breaking the offside trap following a martoko counterattack from the left after 76 minutes. His neat finish made the score 3 - 2. A speedy charge from the left side of the field increased the lead of Paxeko to 4 - 2 as S. D'Agostino finished it off competently, firing in from an acute angle. Paxeko claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 68 percent.

The most dominating Paxeko player was without a doubt R. Garret. B. Pires turned in a dismal performance, however. martoko's best player was L. Barrés. M. Díaz de Ledesma was a disappointment, however. The match ends 4 - 2.