Gorillas 6 - 2 rottweilers (378395675)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 2874 at Gorilla Dome today. José Carlos Inácio was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Anders Oxbo and Enzo Lelli. Gorillas tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. They fielded: Freiberg - Marinho, Aldred, Quim Xuim - Bland, Lastadie, Reinares, Fransson, De Cesaris - Cole, Milo.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for rottweilers. Starters: Banay - Sirkelä, Dymalski, Talasjärvi - Bonke, Picart, Cornello, Bequio, Louter - Caelders, Gorte.

Using their counter-attacking abilities was the strategy of choice for Gorillas. rottweilers seemed to prefer attacking in the middle. 4 minutes into the match and the home team took a 1 - 0 lead after breaking through on the left. The scorer for Gorillas was D. Quim Xuim. After 10 minutes, rottweilers raised their score by one when R. Bonke's dangerous low cross was cleverly tucked in at the near post by A. Gorte. 1 - 1. Some great play up the middle by Gorillas led to a chance for C. Reinares to score after 26 minutes, but the shot hit the crossbar. They were singing the praises of C. Reinares 36 minutes into the match after his speculative chip from the middle of the penalty box found its way over the visitors' keeper to make the score 2 - 1 to Gorillas. After 37 minutes of play, rottweilers's M. Talasjärvi unexpectedly struck an inside out ball from no angle at all and D. Louter slotted it into the net for 2 - 2. Gorillas fans held their breath as N. De Cesaris scampered down the left side. He successfully avoided all challenges and cracked home the shot for 3 - 2! Gorillas's R. Lastadie was shown a yellow card after 40 minutes for slicing down an opponent. The teams went for the halftime break at 3 - 2. Possession in this half belonged to Gorillas, who controlled the ball 63 percent of the time.

50 minutes into the match, the visitors' central line of defence had to look on as C. Aldred broke through, making the score 4 - 2 for Gorillas. At this point, it was obvious that the players of Gorillas lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. After 54 minutes, E. Milo put Gorillas ahead 5 - 2 when he rose to head in a cross from the right wing. With 57 minutes played, T. Bland could have brought this one home for Gorillas as he charged up on the left, but his hooked ball went just a bit too high. D. Louter of rottweilers was booked for kicking the ball away after the whistle. With 64 minutes played, Gorillas put themselves up 6 - 2 when the visiting defenders lost the ball to E. Milo, who came up from the left and proceeded to coolly round the keeper and knock the ball home. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave A. Picart from rottweilers a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 72 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! Gorillas had most of the ball, with 60 percent of possession.

Most important Gorillas player was C. Aldred. C. Reinares turned in a dismal performance, however. A. Picart performed admirably for rottweilers. R. Bonke was a disappointment, however. The match ends 6 - 2.