Villa 3 - 3 JuventinaLecce (378785717)

Clear skies welcomed the 140 spectators who had made their way to ROPECA stadium. Kuno Haud was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Feliciano Alfonso and Robert-Jan de Zwart. Villa started off with a 4-4-2 lineup. They fielded: Monari - Pupin, Heijnen, Cavedagna, Scialla - Zampa, Dichio, Raguseo, Verdolin - Sammartino, Stella.

A 5-3-2 alignment was the formation of choice for JuventinaLecce. Starters: Campesi - Smith, Castiçal, Verh, Nájera, Parias - Garagnani, Demiri, Imbrogno - Brec, Arione.

JuventinaLecce tried to focus their attacks down the middle. Villa fans held their breath as S. Sammartino scampered down the left side. He successfully avoided all challenges and cracked home the shot for 1 - 0! Villa's defence sent a ball soaring up the middle on a beautiful counterattack with 20 minutes gone, but A. Stella's finish was met by the reaching hands of the keeper. Villa put themselves up 2 - 0 when S. Sammartino broke through on the right, leaving the entire defence trailing in his wake. By now, the players in Villa felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. With 31 minutes showing on the scoreboard clock, JuventinaLecce showed some good skill and were able to reduce the score to 2 - 1 when M. Brec got past the home side's central defenders right in front of the goal. A. Nájera of JuventinaLecce seemed to be floating in the air as he elegantly headed in to make the score 2 - 2 after a corner kick that was nicely executed by E. Garagnani. The teams went for the halftime break at 2 - 2. JuventinaLecce had most of the ball, with 53 percent of possession.

It was obvious that team JuventinaLecce had instructions to attack in the middle instead of on the wings. 60 minutes into the match, the referee signalled for a JuventinaLecce substitution. N. Marcosignori came on for M. Brec. Villa made it 3 - 2 as S. Sammartino got a touch to the floated corner kick and flicked the ball to M. Dichio who whipped a low drive in off the far post. JuventinaLecce managed, after 65 minutes, to even the score at 3 - 3 with a lucky free kick by E. Garagnani. Somehow the ball squirmed its way through the defensive wall! Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by JuventinaLecce, with 54 percent of the ball.

Most important Villa player was A. Stella. A. Monari on the other hand, had a terrible day. N. Marcosignori performed admirably for JuventinaLecce. D. Campesi was a disappointment, however. The match ends 3 - 3.