Ascendancy 6 - 1 Xerez (378806627)

The crowd of 2005 turning up at Ascension Arena today were greeted with some nasty showers of rain. Rudolf Eckhardstein was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Hunter Caffyn and Miron Netto. Ascendancy started off with a 3-4-3 lineup. Starters: Toman - Brajko, Glavina, Zamernik - Saint-Leger, Nežmahen, Povše, Jauh - Rački, Mikuž, Smič.

A 5-4-1 alignment was the formation of choice for Xerez. Lineup: Cazeaux - Tenivella, Borre, Pekhovskiy, Bergman, Valera - Iturralde, Korvala, Álvarez, Allesch - Trottnow.

Ascendancy mostly ignored the flanks in favour of their ability to attack in the middle. Ascendancy took the lead 2 minutes in, as S. Mikuž broke through on the left and put the 1 - 0 shot just beyond the reach of the outstretched keeper. S. Pekhovskiy, who often relies on his speed, had a rotten day on the drenched grass. B. Zamernik could have increased the lead after 32 minutes, but his shot hit the post after a nice combination in the middle of the park. Unfortunately for Xerez, A. Valera suffered a concussion after 34 minutes and had to be taken for tests. The coach had his head in his hands after realising he could not send a replacement onto the pitch, and the team had to continue a man short. Ascendancy's M. Povše saw his fine effort strike the top of the bar following some good work up the middle by his teammates after 37 minutes. It was obvious that team Ascendancy had instructions to attack in the middle instead of on the wings. Ascendancy solidified their lead at the 39 minute mark, as S. Mikuž dribbled the ball through the opposing central defence and scored to make it 2 - 0. By now, the players in Ascendancy felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. Ascendancy were determined to attack in the middle, even their wing attacks ended up centrally. A magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Ascendancy's S. Glavina increasing the lead to 3 - 0. 3 - 0 was the score after the first half. Possession in this half belonged to Ascendancy, who controlled the ball 70 percent of the time.

S. Tenivella sailed high above the opponents as he headed in a corner kick from F. Trottnow after 64 minutes of play, making the score 3 - 1. Cheers filled the stadium as S. Mikuž broke through the visitors' central defence to put away the ball to increase the lead to 4 - 1 to Ascendancy. By then S. Mikuž had scored three goals - a hat trick! With 78 minutes played, Ascendancy's well-worked indirect free kick caused havoc in the penalty area, and when the ball eventually fell to J. Jauh he gleefully slotted the ball home to make it 5 - 1. S. Rački hit the corner kick straight to the keeper, but it was mishandled, giving Ascendancy's S. Glavina an easy chance to knock it in for 6 - 1. Ascendancy's S. Mikuž swung in a good chance from the left, but the visitors' defence were able to clear the ball. Ascendancy players heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their wing attacks to the middle instead. J. Jauh should probably have put his team up another goal after 84 minutes, but some great goalkeeping by N. Cazeaux kept the visitors in the game. Ascendancy enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 69 percent of possession.

Most important Ascendancy player was S. Mikuž. S. Glavina was a disappointment, however. Xerez's top performer was clearly F. Trottnow. A. Korvala turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 6 - 1.