Nikolitsa 3 - 1 Trifylliakos (381301288)

40001 punters turned up at Stadium Arcadium, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came. Anders Beckgård was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Stefano Orboeck and Hélio Biltes. Nikolitsa started off with a 2-5-3 lineup. Lineup: Mpanos - Yiapitzis, Karakidis - Kosmatos, Manetas, Matsamplokos, Anagnostidis, Milonopoulos - Dionisiadis, Mavromatis, Akridomouris.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Trifylliakos. The following players had been chosen: Kastrinakis - van der Geer, Pillon, Krähenberg - Conrad, Glugla, Gülsim, Maetel, de Veer - Moraitelis, Deranja.

Nikolitsa used their ability to concentrate their attacks in the middle of the pitch, rather than on the wings. Trifylliakos showed off their creative tactics. Nikolitsa took the lead after 17 minutes as a result of T. Akridomouris's peach of a shot from the right hand side of the box - placed beautifully in the top corner. 1 - 0. The home side's G. Mavromatis came close to extending the lead 27 minutes into the game. His shot came in from the right hand side but S. Kastrinakis managed to save it with an unbelievable reaction stop. Having been awarded a free kick in an awkward position after 37 minutes, Nikolitsa did not go for a shot but instead fired the ball hard into the 6 yard box. After a brief tussle with his marker, I. Yiapitzis was able to power the ball past the keeper to make the score 2 - 0. Halftime score was 2 - 0. Nikolitsa had most of the ball, with 57 percent of possession.

Nikolitsa players heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their wing attacks to the middle instead. A. Milonopoulos should probably have put his team up another goal after 61 minutes, but some great goalkeeping by S. Kastrinakis kept the visitors in the game. 65 minutes into the match A. Anagnostidis put Nikolitsa ahead 3 - 0 with a truly marvelous free kick. The players of Nikolitsa now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. After 77 minutes a very unfortunate collision in the penalty area led to Trifylliakos's Z. Deranja being carried off the pitch and replaced by T. Ageladaris. It was obvious that team Nikolitsa had instructions to attack in the middle instead of on the wings. Nikolitsa's G. Mavromatis was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 86 minutes. A bit later, Trifylliakos's E. van der Geer easily reduced the lead to 3 - 1 after a misunderstanding in the home side's central defence. Nikolitsa enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 61 percent of possession.

Nikolitsa's best player was T. Akridomouris. A. Milonopoulos on the other hand, had a terrible day. Trifylliakos's top performer was clearly L. Moraitelis. M. Glugla turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 3 - 1.