Halfonia 2 - 4 Atletico (379252518)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 2646 at Sde Victor today. Janne Nygård was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Andreas Grasse and Ursul Haans. Halfonia tactics involved an interesting 4-5-1 combination. Lineup: Eid - Ganot, Elimelech, Özakan, Schneiderlein - Rota, Bohfeldt, Navarra, Bronninger, Peleg - Drapier.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Atletico. The following players took the field: Harangozó - Climent, Kitbuqa, Dobrila - Rigo, Lučić, Hetper, Acerete Guillén, Tsioris - Baldvinsson, Astete.

It was an obvious ambition of Atletico to use their ability at attacking on the flanks. Atletico's D. Kitbuqa was shown a yellow card after 16 minutes for slicing down an opponent. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, P. Climent got himself booked. The manager of Atletico was not happy. Slack defending gave Halfonia a chance to take the lead with 39 minutes played, but V. Navarra's cross from the left flank was fumbled in front of the goal and easily dealt with by the opposition. It was 0 - 0 at the break. Halfonia claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 70 percent.

52 minutes into the game, L. Özakan had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came P. Ploner. After 65 minutes Atletico's V. Lučić had to be carried off on a stretcher in agony. S. Özbek came in to replace him. M. Hetper became the new Atletico captain. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave S. Elimelech from Halfonia a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 82 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! Halfonia had most of the ball, with 74 percent of possession.

After the regular 90 minutes, the agony of extra time followed. After extra time, the game was still tied and a penalty shoot-out ensued.

Halfonia's P. Rota made no mistake. I. Harangozó didn't have a chance. 1 - 0. The crowd was awed by D. Kitbuqa's finely placed shot for Atletico making it 1 - 1. Halfonia's B. Bohfeldt 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. Atletico's S. Özbek coolly put the ball past M. Eid. 1 - 2. Halfonia's V. Navarra looked like he knew exactly where he wanted to put the ball, but unfortunately his shot went wide of the left hand post. Still 1 - 2. Oooh - how unlucky! Atletico's A. Dobrila attempt hit the underside of the bar, but rebounded down into the grateful arms of M. Eid. The score stays 1 - 2. Clearly nervous from the start, Halfonia's R. Bronninger took a long run up, but could only blast the ball over the bar. The score remains 1 - 2. Atletico's P. Climent was relaxed as he smoothly put the ball in the net. 1 - 3! When it comes to placing a ball precisely, E. Peleg is a real wizard. He put it safely away for Halfonia to make the score 2 - 3. Atletico's K. Baldvinsson showed he has nerves of steel when it comes to penalties, easily changing the score to 2 - 4. Most important Halfonia player was E. Peleg. I. Ganot on the other hand, had a terrible day. Atletico's best player was S. Özbek. On the other hand, N. Tsioris's play was disheartening. The match ends 2 - 4.