Ascendancy 4 - 2 AntiFlag (377623785)

The weather was pretty good, and a crowd of 1790 had shown up at Ascension Arena for the match. Kaj Poukka was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Bogdan Popescu and Tomasz Zdziebko. Ascendancy had chosen a strategic 3-4-3 formation. The following players took the field: Toman - Brajko, Glavina, Zamernik - Volavc, Saint-Leger, Nežmahen, Voljčanjšek - Rački, Mikuž, Smič.

A 4-4-2 alignment was the formation of choice for AntiFlag. Lineup: Tuvborg - Shani, Tsur-Mayer, Härtel, Hayman - Levin, Caffi, Rejas, El-Chamid - Burg, Brickman.

Ascendancy clearly preferred using their ability to attack in the middle. The wings were the focus of most of AntiFlag's attacks today. Ascendancy fans held their breath as S. Rački scampered down the left side. He successfully avoided all challenges and cracked home the shot for 1 - 0! After 26 minutes a very unfortunate collision in the penalty area led to AntiFlag's L. Brickman being carried off the pitch and replaced by G. Noy. K. El-Chamid finished off a quick charge from the left of the field by chipping the ball just past the home side's keeper, making the score 1 - 1 31 minutes into the match. 37 minutes in, Ascendancy's G. Volavc received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. X. Rejas was the unlucky victim and couldn't continue the game, so AntiFlag's A. Keinan had to come off the bench. After some beautiful movement down the left wing, T. Smič scored for Ascendancy putting them ahead 2 - 1, after 39 minutes. The referee showed AntiFlag's Y. Shani the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. It was 2 - 1 at the break. Possession in this half belonged to Ascendancy, who controlled the ball 63 percent of the time.

It was obvious that team Ascendancy had instructions to attack in the middle instead of on the wings. Ascendancy solidified their lead at the 65 minute mark, as B. Zamernik dribbled the ball through the opposing central defence and scored to make it 3 - 1. The visitors replied 69 minutes into the game, reducing the home side's lead to 3 - 2, as R. Levin dashed up the middle, easily lobbing the ball over the home team's keeper. Central attacks were the recipe of the day for Ascendancy, as they moved the ball from the wings to the middle with startling regularity. 72 minutes into the match, the visitors' central line of defence had to look on as S. Mikuž broke through, making the score 4 - 2 for Ascendancy. After this, you could see that the players of Ascendancy were more interested in killing time than scoring more goals. It might be a while before the fans see Ascendancy's G. Volavc again, after he had to leave the field in great distress at the 74 minute mark. He was replaced by K. Vugrinec. Ascendancy's T. Smič saw his fine effort strike the top of the bar following some good work up the middle by his teammates after 78 minutes. Attacking on the wings was the choice for AntiFlag, and they were successfully passing the ball from the middle to the wings to attack. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Ascendancy, with 67 percent of the ball.

The most dominating Ascendancy player was without a doubt S. Mikuž. P. Voljčanjšek was a disappointment, however. A. Burg performed admirably for AntiFlag. G. Noy on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 4 - 2.