CanPack 1 - 5 Tg-Jiu (380819911)

Due to an all-day shower, 16530 paying spectators got to see a match on a pitch-turned-bog at CanPack Arena. Gernot Gross was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Logan Higgins and Aldo Maria Labunda. CanPack had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Boeckx - Botezatu, Vicol, Chèvre - Lindenmayer, Florea, Zinveliu, Brezae, Romanovschi - Mühlestein, Susan.

Tg-Jiu tactics involved an interesting 2-5-3 combination. They fielded: Baratta - Gil, De Sario - Dincă, Rogeon, Sumberg, Sultz, Pozzoni - Sairinen, Moeschinger, Rambone.

Tg-Jiu used their ability to concentrate their attacks in the middle of the pitch, rather than on the wings. Given a free kick close to the byline, Tg-Jiu tried a move that loyal fans may recognise from training. A pass to the side pulled the defence out of position which let A. De Sario slip through on goal. He didn't have to break his stride, and slipped the ball past the keeper to make it 0 - 1, 12 minutes into the game. Due to some great work on the right wing CanPack's P. Chèvre was able to even the score after 13 minutes to make the score 1 - 1. D. Botezatu did not have a good day today, often losing his footing on the muddy pitch. The boggy pitch disrupted the game, especially for technical players like J. Mühlestein. CanPack had a good opportunity to take the lead as L. Vicol came up the left side, but he struck the ball weakly and it went straight into the arms of N. Baratta. 1 - 1 was the halftime score. Possession of the ball saw an equal split between the teams during the forty-five minutes.

Tg-Jiu were determined to attack in the middle, even their wing attacks ended up centrally. A mistake by the home side's central defence after 57 minutes allowed V. Pozzoni to score for Tg-Jiu. The scoreboard now read 1 - 2. 65 minutes into the game, G. Romanovschi came close to levelling the score with a dangerous shot from the centre of the area that went just over the bar. With 68 minutes played, Tg-Jiu's well-worked indirect free kick caused havoc in the penalty area, and when the ball eventually fell to F. Rambone he gleefully slotted the ball home to make it 1 - 3. After 75 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for F. Rambone who increased Tg-Jiu's lead to 1 - 4. The players of Tg-Jiu now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. The counterattacks of Tg-Jiu were deadly and 77 minutes into the game, A. De Sario received a nice pass from the right flank, making it 1 - 5. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Tg-Jiu, with 53 percent of the ball.

Most important CanPack player was M. Boeckx. L. Vicol turned in a dismal performance, however. Tg-Jiu's best player was F. Rambone. However, J. Gil made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 1 - 5.