niema 0 - 7 RIONE (380283813)

The weather was pretty good, and a crowd of 15510 had shown up at niema stadium for the match. Ferdynand Trynda was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Niels Jacobs and Braňo Hájek. niema started off with a 5-3-2 lineup. Starters: Sokolnikas - Plaud, Carbonell, Guyomar, Gufo, Loeschenkohl - Adelswarth, Megidish, Ginelli - Fratochi, Rodighiero.

RIONE had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. They fielded: D'Auria - Zago, Precisamente, Fern, Patriarca - Tovazzi, Zenoni, Petito, Galardo - Casarin, Makoni.

Using their counter-attacking abilities was the strategy of choice for RIONE. Down the middle came I. Casarin, making a fantastic play that nearly had RIONE take the lead after 5 minutes, but V. Sokolnikas preserved the tie. The guests almost went up by a goal after 11 minutes when A. Galardo came through and shot from the right. The ball bounced harmlessly off the post, though. With 12 minutes played, the visitors broke through on the right after some poor defending. M. Zenoni put the ball away for 0 - 1. After 13 minutes, an incisive pass through the middle gave F. Tovazzi a chance to increase the lead for RIONE, and he did not disappoint. The score was then 0 - 2. With 26 minutes played, the excellent ball from the wing by RIONE's A. Galardo reached I. Casarin's head, and he is not one to miss such an opportunity - 0 - 3. A drive down the left side allowed A. Petito to get in close and score another goal for RIONE after 31 minutes, taking the score to 0 - 4. The players of RIONE now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. The teams went for the halftime break at 0 - 4. Possession in this half belonged to RIONE, who controlled the ball 59 percent of the time.

With 49 minutes played, E. Patriarca nearly put the visitors another one up as he broke through in the middle and fired from just outside the box, but his shot passed just over the bar. With 51 minutes played, a quick exchange of passes on the left wing freed A. Petito of RIONE to slip through the defence and score another goal for the visitors. That made the score 0 - 5. A. Galardo wanted to play on, but the RIONE coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 60 minutes into the game by Ó. Martínez Sancho. The RIONE players could smell victory in the air. G. Zago wasn't in a hurry to leave the field as he was substituted for F. Raganato after 60 minutes. Content with how the game was proceeding, the RIONE coach let R. Battaglino replace W. Makoni after 60 minutes. RIONE increased their lead after 61 minutes when I. Casarin broke through on the right, upping the score to 0 - 6, much to the home crowd's dismay. Unfortunately for RIONE, R. Battaglino suffered a concussion after 70 minutes and had to be taken for tests. The coach had his head in his hands after realising he could not send a replacement onto the pitch, and the team had to continue a man short. The visitors' I. Casarin took advantage of a misunderstanding between the home side's goalie and centre backs 73 minutes into the match. 0 - 7 for RIONE. That made three goals for I. Casarin and he was marked down for the hat trick. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave É. Plaud from niema a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 74 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! There was no way RIONE's I. Casarin could continue to play after this, and no replacements were available! M. Zenoni was the new captain of RIONE - handed the armband by the departing player. RIONE claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 59 percent.

The most dominating niema player was without a doubt E. Carbonell. On the other hand, M. Fratochi's play was disheartening. RIONE's top performer was clearly A. Petito. C. Fern was a disappointment, however. The match ends 0 - 7.