Runners 3 - 1 CHARLLY (379496036)

Clouds darkened the skies at Rachael Stadium as 2034 spectators turned up for the match. Aldo Ariosto was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Mikael Carlsson and Martin Andersson. Runners started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Orbakan - Roep, Machón, Beaulieu - Juez, Markfort, Persson, Elejalde, Petrov - Modafferi, Carcellé.

CHARLLY tactics involved an interesting 4-5-1 combination. They fielded: Salgado - Dupre, Cullen, Sunesson, Vorgić - Martinsson, Surguladze, Jach, Antikainen, Gmyr - Karvonen.

After 3 minutes, the home side was awarded a penalty. The visitors protested wildly but the referee was adamant. R. Persson easily put the ball away to give the lead to Runners. 1 - 0 8 minutes into the match, the visitors' central line of defence had to look on as R. Persson broke through, making the score 2 - 0 for Runners. The referee showed CHARLLY's J. Karvonen the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. CHARLLY's M. Jach was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 24 minutes. 35 minutes in, R. Vorgić made an incredible run up the middle and nearly reduced the home side's lead, but S. Orbakan refused to let the ball slip by him. 2 - 0 was the halftime score. Runners claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 55 percent.

After 54 minutes CHARLLY tried to exploit their counterattacking skills, unfortunately, G. Surguladze's shot sailed wide after his break down the right. CHARLLY's M. Cullen left the field after 77 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was J. Selkälä. M. Modafferi of Runners received a yellow card after 80 minutes for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Things were going to get worse for the visitors. C. Markfort squirmed through their central defence after 83 minutes, increasing the lead to 3 - 0. The CHARLLY free kick 87 minutes into the match seemed wasted, as the shot was both short and off target. But was this actually a plan? The ball landed at the feet of R. Gmyr, who was completely unmarked in the box. That's 3 - 1! Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Runners, with 53 percent of the ball.

The most dominating Runners player was without a doubt M. Modafferi. S. Orbakan turned in a dismal performance, however. CHARLLY's top performer was clearly J. Karvonen. R. Gmyr was a disappointment, however. The match ends 3 - 1.