Astley 4 - 3 GREGPOL2008 (379444839)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 1114 at Stadium of Light today. Daniel 'El franctirador' Lumpkin was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Jovan Anđelkić and Wolf-Dietrich Könemann. Astley had chosen a strategic 2-5-3 formation. Lineup: Parsonage - Kouba, Ivănescu - Adèle, Teppanainen, Llop, Swatt, Rastas - Leach, Kis, Dubini.

GREGPOL2008 started off with a 3-4-3 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Page - Maurício, Mallard, Bucciaglia - Sancton, Risi, Ledoux, Barnaby - Dumais, Roger, Compagnoni.

Astley saw most attack opportunities on the wings. GREGPOL2008 tried to focus their attacks down the middle. GREGPOL2008 players heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their wing attacks to the middle instead. 25 minutes into the game, K. Barnaby almost gave the visitors the lead, as he clipped a delicate lob over the keeper, but the ball glanced harmlessly off the crossbar. The referee showed Astley's X. Llop the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. GREGPOL2008 were forced into a substitution as L. Sancton couldn't continue due to some rough treatment, forcing K. Palmer to come in off the bench. Y. Ledoux of GREGPOL2008 seemed to be floating in the air as he elegantly headed in to make the score 0 - 1 after a corner kick that was nicely executed by A. Dumais. G. Compagnoni was the first to reach the corner kick, but his header was blocked by the keeper. However, GREGPOL2008's H. Roger managed to get hold of the rebound and tucked the ball into the empty net. 0 - 2 The home crowd were delighted when D. Kouba scored with a header after an attack from the right, making the score 1 - 2. But did he use his hand? That'll be one for the pundits to talk about after the game, that's for sure! Due to some great work on the right wing Astley's J. Leach was able to even the score after 44 minutes to make the score 2 - 2. Astley's J. Leach tried to break through in the middle repeatedly, but couldn't get past the visitors' defenders. It was 2 - 2 at the break. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Astley, with 55 percent of the ball.

46 minutes into the game, GREGPOL2008 wanted to bring some new energy to their game. I. Page gave M. Marcsinák a quick hug as he left the field. After 50 minutes, the GREGPOL2008 coach wanted to see a new face on the pitch, waving A. Dumais off the field. T. Rae took his place. After 53 minutes, F. Adèle came in from the right, feinted, then sped past the off-balance defender to make the score 3 - 2, giving Astley the lead. L. Kis unleashed a swerving effort from the right that the visitors' keeper did well to tip wide. K. Barnaby tied the game at 3 - 3 after 75 minutes, when he converted an incredible pass from the right. Astley had a good opportunity to attack in the middle, but remembered their instructions to focus on wing attacks instead. Astley broke through on the left 77 minutes into the game, with D. Kouba firing in from an acute angle to give the home side a 4 - 3 lead. A. Teppanainen should probably have put his team up another goal after 78 minutes, but some great goalkeeping by M. Marcsinák kept the visitors in the game. Astley claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 53 percent.

Most important Astley player was X. Llop. On the other hand, R. Parsonage's play was disheartening. GREGPOL2008's top performer was clearly G. Compagnoni. T. Rae on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 4 - 3.