Taarmak 8 - 7 Friends (378762548)

Weather conditions were fairly good for football, and Racing Taarmak Arena saw a crowd turnout of 3847. Constantin Romilã was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Thomas Broflod and Alexey Sharapov. Taarmak decided to use a 5-5-0 set up. They fielded: Coppens - Nachtweide, Telleria, Stencel, Kopanyicza, Demey - Solomon, Girardi, Taverinier, Ceunen, Penchev -.

Friends had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Starters: Napoli - Todor, Dieguez, Maňhal - Mazzucconi, Gaschet, Glasser, Eagles, Palmisano - Brönimann, Larsson.

Taarmak were determined to use their long shot ability. Pressing was the tactic of the day for Friends. After 1 minutes, the Friends coach wanted to see a new face on the pitch, waving G. Larsson off the field. L. Belle took his place. G. Brönimann earned a rousing chorus of cheers from his fans as he seemed to come out of nowhere after 17 minutes to intercept the ball and put it in the back of the net for Friends. 0 - 1. Although the whole team were struggling to impress, Taarmak's T. Taverinier was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 18 minutes. Í. Meixide was given a chance to change things around. Taarmak once again set a long distance shooter in position after 24 minutes, but the defenders were wide awake and closed in on the shooter in time to block the shot. 25 minutes in, Taarmak appeared unsure on how to play and their organisation was only passable. Taarmak's R. Ceunen got himself booked for a foul. Friends's E. Palmisano went down after a savage challenge, but could continue playing after some medical attention. The pressing from the defenders made it hard for Taarmak to find any shooting possibilities, which was shown after 32 minutes when the hard-working defence blocked all possible shooting opportunities and eventually stole the ball. Taarmak's A. Nachtweide was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 42 minutes. It was 0 - 1 at the break. Taarmak had most of the ball, with 58 percent of possession.

A review of the gameplan helped Taarmak get back to a solid organisation when the referee blew his whistle again. The Friends players could smell victory in the air. G. Brönimann wasn't in a hurry to leave the field as he was substituted for O. Wilde after 46 minutes. With 52 minutes gone, a long pass from the defence of Friends resulted in a counterattack that set O. Wilde free through the middle, but the keeper made a spectacular diving save. Taarmak's Í. Meixide had to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines, after twisting his ankle with 55 minutes having been played. L. Jörgensson was the replacement. After 60 minutes, Taarmak sent a free kick in high over the penalty box. In what looked like a well-rehearsed move, the ball was headed backwards and reached B. Stencel, who had plenty of space to place a well aimed shot - 1 - 1. O. Wilde would have preferred to play on, but his coach decided otherwise. R. Pomponio entered the game for Friends as the match clock showed 83 minutes. Friends's P. Eagles was shown a yellow card after 83 minutes for slicing down an opponent. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Taarmak, with 62 percent of the ball.

With the scores being level after 90 minutes, the match went into extra time. During the break, Taarmak's coach went through the team's tactics yet again, getting them up to solid organisation. After 91 minutes, the Friends coach made a sign to P. Eagles, who soon changed positions with E. Palmisano. After 91 minutes, the Friends manager redeployed his men. D. Mazzucconi swapped positions with W. Gaschet. 112 minutes had elapsed when a great chance for Taarmak to take the lead after a good cross from the right found O. Solomon alone with the keeper, but he chipped it to the wrong side of the post. After extra time, the game was still tied and a penalty shoot-out ensued.

Taarmak's A. Nachtweide showed he has nerves of steel when it comes to penalties, easily changing the score to 2 - 1. Friends's H. Dieguez made no mistake. E. Coppens didn't have a chance. 2 - 2. Taarmak's R. Demey didn't look like he was confident as he stepped up, and produced a badly struck penalty - right into the arms of G. Napoli. The score remained 2 - 2. Oooh - how unlucky! Friends's W. Gaschet attempt hit the underside of the bar, but rebounded down into the grateful arms of E. Coppens. The score stays 2 - 2. Taarmak's L. Jörgensson was relaxed as he smoothly put the ball in the net. 3 - 2! Friends's R. Pomponio kept his cool as he faced down E. Coppens. His composure paid off as he scored easily for 3 - 3. Taarmak's R. Kopanyicza coolly put the ball past G. Napoli. 4 - 3. Friends's D. Mazzucconi coolly put the ball past E. Coppens. 4 - 4. Taarmak's O. Solomon showed he has nerves of steel when it comes to penalties, easily changing the score to 5 - 4. Friends's L. Belle showed he has nerves of steel when it comes to penalties, easily changing the score to 5 - 5. Clearly nervous from the start, Taarmak's R. Ceunen took a long run up, but could only blast the ball over the bar. The score remains 5 - 5. A confident E. Palmisano of Friends put the ball right where he wanted, but E. Coppens was right there for the save. No goal. Taarmak's E. Coppens looked nervous even as he was putting the ball on the spot. He didn't take much of a run up, and his weak shot was easily saved by the keeper. Friends's P. Glasser drove the ball hard to the corner but couldn't get it past the outstretched arm of E. Coppens. The score remains 5 - 5. Taarmak's B. Stencel looked like he knew exactly where he wanted to put the ball, but unfortunately his shot went wide of the left hand post. Still 5 - 5. Friends's P. Eagles didn't hesitate but E. Coppens managed the save, resulting in an unchanged 5 - 5 score. A badly laid penalty by Taarmak's O. Telleria was surrendered by G. Napoli, who took an equally bad dive, making the score 6 - 5. There aren't many players that have the cheek to take a penalty like that! Friends's I. Maňhal showed he was one of them, as he made it 6 - 6. Taarmak's T. Girardi coolly put the ball past G. Napoli. 7 - 6. Friends's A. Todor coolly put the ball past E. Coppens. 7 - 7. Taarmak's V. Penchev kept his cool as he faced down G. Napoli. His composure paid off as he scored easily for 8 - 7. Friends's G. Napoli cockily booted the ball with a short-and-fast instep. The penalty, going just wide of the mark, didn't produce a goal. Taarmak's top performer was clearly O. Solomon. On the other hand, V. Penchev's play was disheartening. The most dominating Friends player was without a doubt P. Eagles. W. Gaschet was a disappointment, however. The match ends 8 - 7.