M-fighters 0 - 5 Aberystwýth (378961642)

2608 punters turned up at *SNOWLEOPARD* Arena, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came. Florian van Oven was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Jorge Manríquez and Söhnke Weck. M-fighters had chosen a strategic 4-5-1 formation. The following players had been chosen: Weitzel - Bogacki, Düsterloh, Nigrowics, Gunst - Stelter, Aromaa, Hohnjec, Schröder, Zuna - Pengili.

Aberystwýth tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Lineup: Kintner - Bylandt, Ortiz, Ulbæk - Blommaerts, Escauriaza, Esteller, Leben, Dunning - Hubbard, Kirchmeier.

Counter-attacking seemed to be the preferred strategy of M-fighters. 2 minutes into the game, Aberystwýth had difficulty finding their positions and their organisation dropped to inadequate. After 4 minutes, Aberystwýth's C. Blommaerts made his way through the middle and nonchalantly placed the ball out of the keeper's reach, putting the visitors up 0 - 1. After 20 minutes, there was a bit of a mixup on the field as M-fighters found themselves out of position and their organisation level dropped to solid. After 30 minutes, an incisive pass through the middle gave C. Blommaerts a chance to increase the lead for Aberystwýth, and he did not disappoint. The score was then 0 - 2. D. Hohnjec almost reduced the deficit, having drawn the entire left side defence away, but the shot went straight into the arms of the goalkeeper. Aberystwýth's R. Escauriaza left the field after 36 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was J. Rubio. F. Nigrowics behaved like an inexperienced youth player after 38 minutes as he gave the ball away to J. Hubbard. Lucky for him though, there was no goal. The home crowd cheered when, after 39 minutes, H. Ortiz's charge up the middle resulted in the keeper making one of his best saves of the day. 41 minutes into the match, the visitors put themselves ahead 0 - 3 as E. Kirchmeier finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. At this point, it was obvious that the players of Aberystwýth lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. A scuffle developed as players from both sides clashed following a tussle in the centre of the field 43 minutes into the match. After regaining order and consulting his linesman, the referee called M-fighters's D. Zuna to one side and produced a red card for the player. 0 - 3 was the halftime score. Possession in this half belonged to Aberystwýth, who controlled the ball 58 percent of the time.

Despite his frustration resulting in the smashing of a few teacups, the coach of M-fighters was able to get his message across, and raised M-fighters's organisation to solid. During the break, Aberystwýth's coach went through the team's tactics yet again, getting them up to solid organisation. A. Kintner left the field with a smile on his face as he was substituted 46 minutes into the game, as his team was in the lead. A. Lundberg was the replacement. Proving his experience, E. Kirchmeier scored 0 - 4 for Aberystwýth after putting some pressure on the opposing defence at a critical moment. 69 minutes into the game, Aberystwýth seemed a little tentative in their play as their organization fell to inadequate. With 77 minutes played, a quick exchange of passes on the left wing freed E. Leben of Aberystwýth to slip through the defence and score another goal for the visitors. That made the score 0 - 5. M-fighters almost scored after a counterattack 79 minutes into the match, but A. Schröder took a shot from the left that landed harmlessly in the side of the net. Aberystwýth had most of the ball, with 59 percent of possession.

F. Gunst performed admirably for M-fighters. A. Weitzel was a disappointment, however. The most dominating Aberystwýth player was without a doubt J. Hubbard. U. Bylandt on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 0 - 5.