Runners 3 - 2 1903 (379914518)

Weather conditions were fairly good for football, and Rachael Stadium saw a crowd turnout of 1557. Galib Kaser was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Robbie Devreese and Kurt McGuinness. Runners tactics involved an interesting 2-5-3 combination. Starters: Monhait - Guercolata, Machón - Halldorsson, Draksjö, Ruiz Jiménez, Persson, Markfort - Juez, Galistinos, Elejalde.

A 4-5-1 alignment was the formation of choice for 1903. The following players took the field: Jenőfi - Usategui, Nájera Gómez, Wicky, Waldeck - Zabalaga, Taborelli, Hoşkadem, Antwerpen, Pieterse - Jeftić.

It was obvious that 1903 were using their pressing skill as their primary tactic. After 9 minutes, there was a bit of a mixup on the field as 1903 found themselves out of position and their organisation level dropped to passable. Making his way up the middle 16 minutes into the match, B. Machón almost managed to squeeze a goal past the visitors' keeper, but the alert T. Jenőfi blocked it to keep the score level. Some great play up the middle by Runners led to a chance for S. Galistinos to score after 19 minutes, but the shot hit the crossbar. 1903 caught their opponents out with a clever counterattack down the right wing 20 minutes into the match. D. Usategui was able to finish off the move - 0 - 1. 1903 pressed their opponents, causing the game to be a bit of a stalemate at times. At this time in the match, 1903 were using their skill at pressing to successfully stifle the game. 0 - 1 was the halftime score. Runners claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 65 percent.

Despite his frustration resulting in the smashing of a few teacups, the coach of 1903 was able to get his message across, and raised 1903's organisation to solid. At the 58 minute mark, it looked like the opportunity for Runners to score had been missed until V. Elejalde suddenly worked his way clear and fired off a spectacular shot. The keeper had no chance! 1 - 1. After 69 minutes, R. Juez came in from the right, feinted, then sped past the off-balance defender to make the score 2 - 1, giving Runners the lead. After 70 minutes, the away team failed to deal with a good exchange of passes on the right, and A. Guercolata gave the Runners supporters even more to cheer about when he increased the lead to 3 - 1. The players of Runners now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. H. Pieterse's early cross saw the defenders caught out of position and the alert I. Zabalaga was able to pounce and roll the ball past the hapless goalkeeper to score for 1903. 3 - 2. 1903's talent at pressing frustrated the spectators as the game became a dire midfield struggle. 1903's ability to press all over the field frequently paid dividends. Runners's V. Elejalde got himself booked for a foul. 86 minutes in, Runners's M. Draksjö received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. 86 minutes into the game, 1903 seemed a little tentative in their play as their organization fell to solid. Runners's C. Markfort saw his fine effort strike the top of the bar following some good work up the middle by his teammates after 87 minutes. Runners enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 62 percent of possession.

The most dominating Runners player was without a doubt M. Draksjö. However, C. Markfort made a disastrous appearance. Most important 1903 player was P. Jeftić. D. Usategui was a disappointment, however. The match ends 3 - 2.