palmaroma 7 - 6 Athletic (379177835)

The weather was pretty good, and a crowd of 1214 had shown up at palmaroma Arena for the match. Eikki Kiiver was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Valentin Herin and Bengt Carlsson. palmaroma tactics involved an interesting 4-5-1 combination. They fielded: Miloscio - Ciarlo, Eira, D'Occhio, Roukala - Brocklebank, Mennel, Höhlich, Prettlack, Szedlacsek - Tardelli.

A 4-3-3 alignment was the formation of choice for Athletic. Lineup: Speranti - Poeira, Galluccio, Battista, Andrisani - Argenta, Troiano, Olszanowski - Rottensteiner, Folini, Bozzuto.

A foul after 5 minutes resulted in a free kick. S. Tardelli cannonballed it, giving the home team the lead 1 - 0. palmaroma's I. Höhlich was shown a yellow card after 8 minutes for slicing down an opponent. After 17 minutes, Athletic switched P. Olszanowski with D. Di Pierdomenico, hoping for a quick impact on the pitch. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave C. Andrisani from Athletic a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 18 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! The corner kick from S. Tardelli was powerfully met by the head of S. Mennel to make the score 2 - 0. Athletic's P. Folini finished emphatically to make the score 2 -1 after 41 minutes, after the enigmatic N. Bozzuto pulled a delightful long pass from his box of tricks to bypass the defence. S. Tardelli almost put palmaroma ahead another goal when he curled a free kick over the defensive wall and almost into the net, but the visitors' keeper got there just in time to knock it wide. With 43 minutes played, R. Poeira of Athletic fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. 2 - 1 was the halftime score. palmaroma claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 70 percent.

Content with how the game was proceeding, the palmaroma coach let D. Ivanchev replace S. Tardelli after 46 minutes. 58 minutes into the game, S. Prettlack had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came J. Bergmann. With 61 minutes played, M. Ciarlo could have brought this one home for palmaroma as he charged up on the left, but his hooked ball went just a bit too high. Athletic almost scored after a counterattack 62 minutes into the match, but D. Rottensteiner took a shot from the left that landed harmlessly in the side of the net. 66 minutes in, Athletic's M. Troiano received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. The visiting team's D. Di Pierdomenico was able to score the 2 - 2 equaliser with a header 80 minutes into the match, after some good work on the right. palmaroma had a chance to take the lead after J. Bergmann's dazzling drive up the left, but the opportunity fizzled out as his shot went just over the bar after 81 minutes. With 82 minutes gone, a long pass from the defence of Athletic resulted in a counterattack that set D. Rottensteiner free through the middle, but the keeper made a spectacular diving save. Possession in this half belonged to palmaroma, who controlled the ball 79 percent of the time.

As neither team was able to break the deadlock before the end of regular play, the teams took to the field again for extra time. Good work by the Athletic defensive line after 99 minutes produced a good counterattack chance, which cut elegantly down the middle of the pitch and found P. Folini alone in front of the goal, but his shot whistled just wide. J. Bergmann of palmaroma was booked for kicking the ball away after the whistle. After extra time, the game was still tied and a penalty shoot-out ensued.

palmaroma's B. Miloscio didn't look like he was confident as he stepped up, and produced a badly struck penalty - right into the arms of A. Speranti. The score remained 2 - 2. Athletic's M. Troiano coolly put the ball past B. Miloscio. 2 - 3. palmaroma's M. Ciarlo made no mistake. A. Speranti didn't have a chance. 3 - 3. Athletic's N. Bozzuto was relaxed as he smoothly put the ball in the net. 3 - 4! Oooh - how unlucky! palmaroma's L. D'Occhio attempt hit the underside of the bar, but rebounded down into the grateful arms of A. Speranti. The score stays 3 - 4. Athletic's P. Folini showed he has nerves of steel when it comes to penalties, easily changing the score to 3 - 5. palmaroma's I. Höhlich kept his cool as he faced down A. Speranti. His composure paid off as he scored easily for 4 - 5. Clearly nervous from the start, Athletic's D. Rottensteiner took a long run up, but could only blast the ball over the bar. The score remains 4 - 5. palmaroma's T. Szedlacsek showed he has nerves of steel when it comes to penalties, easily changing the score to 5 - 5. Athletic's C. Andrisani penalty shot was very well placed but B. Miloscio went the right way, blocking it spectacularly. The score was still 5 - 5. palmaroma's C. Brocklebank made no mistake. A. Speranti didn't have a chance. 6 - 5. Athletic's A. Argenta was relaxed as he smoothly put the ball in the net. 6 - 6! palmaroma's S. Mennel coolly put the ball past A. Speranti. 7 - 6. Athletic's G. Battista 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. palmaroma's top performer was clearly J. Bergmann. However, T. Szedlacsek made a disastrous appearance. Most important Athletic player was G. Battista. M. Troiano turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 7 - 6.