Peloteros 5 - 6 Saints (378726001)

Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 50000 to Pelotero's boyz arena. Boguslaw Upojny was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Søren Bæk and Peter Tobiasen. Peloteros decided to use a 2-5-3 set up. Starters: Pärtna - Lobeira, Schiffers - Abad, Paciaroni, Lepschy, Missiroli, Isbrand - Pelliccia, Carrano, Della Marchina.

Saints started off with a 2-5-3 lineup. Lineup: Yiğit - Niaz, Bardagí - Krajčír, Kanj, Eriksson, Caiazza, Stagni - Merhi, Ferari, Daleka.

Peloteros fans held their breath as H. Schiffers scampered down the left side. He successfully avoided all challenges and cracked home the shot for 1 - 0! 33 minutes into the game Saints's J. Bardagí found a gap in the home side's central defence and scored with a fabulous shot, making it 1 - 1. Peloteros took the lead 35 minutes in, as F. Della Marchina broke through on the left and put the 2 - 1 shot just beyond the reach of the outstretched keeper. The corner kick from A. Lobeira was powerfully met by the head of F. Della Marchina to make the score 3 - 1. Content with how the game was proceeding, the Peloteros coach let G. Palazzetti replace M. Pelliccia after 37 minutes. Peloteros's F. Carrano increased the lead to 4 - 1, after he saw his shot go between the legs of the advancing goalkeeper following some good play down the right wing after 38 minutes. After this, you could see that the players of Peloteros were more interested in killing time than scoring more goals. The referee showed Peloteros's F. Della Marchina the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Morale on the visitors' bench was greatly improved when their M. Daleka reduced the lead to make it 4 - 2 after 41 minutes, following a pass from the right. F. Merhi of Saints was able to make an impressive rush past the sluggish H. Schiffers, which resulted in a goal making the score 4 - 3. Saints had to make a substitution after 44 minutes. A. Stagni limped off the field and was replaced by P. Serafini. 4 - 3 was the score after the first half. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Saints, with 52 percent of the ball.

With 54 minutes played, the Saints coach decided a substitution may help turn the game around. S. Escerza came on, J. Bardagí had to leave the fray. After 59 minutes, Saints switched M. Daleka with M. Guşă, hoping for a quick impact on the pitch. The coach of Peloteros was happy with the game so far, but still wanted to change the line up. After 70 minutes, A. Rizzuto came on for M. Missiroli. The visitors refused to give in and, after 72 minutes, K. Niaz evened things up as he finished off a perfect pass from the right. 4 - 4 Priding himself in being an active coach, the Peloteros manager gave new instructions to his players after 73 minutes. As the 73 minute mark approached, the Peloteros coach decided it was time for a substitution. E. Paciaroni reluctantly made way for M. Lucarini on the pitch. The guests took the lead 79 minutes into the match, after a right-side attack resulted in M. Guşă scoring to make it 4 - 5. A lovely run by Saints's F. Merhi left his markers for dead and should have resulted in a goal, but the finish went just wide. A drive down the left side allowed F. Merhi to get in close and score another goal for Saints after 81 minutes, taking the score to 4 - 6. A marvellous Peloteros effort on the right-hand side resulted in a goal after 82 minutes by M. Lucarini, making the score 5 - 6. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave F. Carrano from Peloteros a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 83 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! In a fantastic display of determination, Saints's F. Caiazza forced himself to his feet, after an opponent viciously knocked him down. Saints enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 51 percent of possession.

Most important Peloteros player was F. Carrano. A. Lobeira turned in a dismal performance, however. F. Merhi performed admirably for Saints. However, P. Serafini made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 5 - 6.