Pirates 4 - 0 LORRAINE-united (379473383)

1865 punters turned up at The Unpleasant Field, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came. Romeo Mateescu was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Puck Lipperts and Stefan Hammarstedt. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Pirates. Starters: Park - Park, Yang, Park - Heringsmühle, Kim, Park, Contente, Hong - Lee, Yun.

LORRAINE-united had chosen a strategic 3-4-3 formation. The following players had been chosen: Piron - Ranzinger, Bosch, Siachoque - Royer, Blikman, Cłapka, Leconte - Carvajal, Rambla, Fourage.

LORRAINE-united tried to focus their attacks down the middle. After 6 minutes of play, H. Lee gave the home team a 1 - 0 lead after an attack coming in from the right. With 17 minutes played, seemingly due to lack of experience, H. Park needlessly tripped an opponent just outside the penalty area, but the free kick that followed didn't succeed. A speedy charge from the left side of the field increased the lead of Pirates to 2 - 0 as K. Park finished it off competently, firing in from an acute angle. Pirates solidified their lead at the 29 minute mark, as K. Park dribbled the ball through the opposing central defence and scored to make it 3 - 0. 31 minutes into the game, Pirates's H. Lee fired home from an incredible distance! We'll be seeing that on Xmas goal compilation DVDs for years to come! 4 - 0. At this point, it was obvious that the players of Pirates lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. The teams went for the halftime break at 4 - 0. Pirates claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 68 percent.

With 46 minutes played, the LORRAINE-united coach decided a substitution may help turn the game around. K. Isosomppi came on, W. Cłapka had to leave the fray. After 46 minutes, LORRAINE-united switched R. Bosch with S. Baudo, hoping for a quick impact on the pitch. After 55 minutes, Pirates were awarded a free kick. Rather than shooting straight at goal, the taker went for an indirect variant which seemed to take his team mates a bit by surprise. J. Yang did attempt a finish, but from an awkward position, sending the ball into the away fans. Pirates's H. Park saw his fine effort strike the top of the bar following some good work up the middle by his teammates after 64 minutes. The bench was restless, and with 65 minutes passed LORRAINE-united's coach gave A. Barbu the opportunity the player had been hoping for. K. Leconte reluctantly left the field. LORRAINE-united mounted an inspired counterattack down the right wing after 71 minutes, but K. Isosomppi was unable to convert from short range. Pirates's J. Yang was shown a yellow card after 78 minutes for slicing down an opponent. K. Park had a fantastic opportunity to put Pirates up another goal 81 minutes into the match, but he fired just over the crossbar. H. Lee could have increased the lead after 82 minutes, but his shot hit the post after a nice combination in the middle of the park. Pirates had most of the ball, with 66 percent of possession.

The most dominating Pirates player was without a doubt J. Contente. On the other hand, H. Park's play was disheartening. LORRAINE-united's top performer was clearly A. Barbu. S. Carvajal was a disappointment, however. The match ends 4 - 0.