Athletics 2 - 5 Elpra (381476791)

8587 spectators arrived at Athletics Praha Arena, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Sebastian van den Hout was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Miguel Balodis and Alphonse Dabin. Athletics tactics involved an interesting 4-4-2 combination. The following players took the field: Piskač - Kolb, Ondřej, Popelář, Štangl - Plavec, Gažik, Divín, Čonka - Kusyn, Vogl.

Elpra had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. Starters: Kotala - Hapala, Laub, Vymyslický, Kaňa - Klapil, Peš, Přikryl, Valo - Bednář, Port.

The corner kick from F. Kolb was powerfully met by the head of P. Divín to make the score 1 - 0. The home team will be cursing Š. Přikryl for weeks; he finished off a great pass from the left, knocking it past the keeper without a problem. The match was level at 1 - 1 after 3 minutes. The guests almost went up by a goal after 18 minutes when Š. Přikryl came through and shot from the right. The ball bounced harmlessly off the post, though. 1 - 2 was the score with 26 minutes played, after V. Laub cut through the central defence and chipped home a goal for Elpra. After 30 minutes, a mistake by the home side's left defence allowed M. Klapil to get through. He outclassed the home side's keeper, adding another goal for the visitors. 1 - 3. After 31 minutes, Z. Ondřej had a good opportunity to reduce the scoreline for Athletics with a chance created through the middle, but wasn't cool enough. The ball went miles over the bar. After 35 minutes, Elpra's Š. Přikryl burst through the central defence and let loose a cannonball of a shot, scoring for 1 - 4. Confident in their lead, Elpra's players relaxed and focused more on defending the lead than increasing it. Halftime score was 1 - 4. Elpra enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 59 percent of possession.

The home crowd were delighted when O. Gažik scored with a header after an attack from the right, making the score 2 - 4. But did he use his hand? That'll be one for the pundits to talk about after the game, that's for sure! Elpra came close to extending their lead as A. Port delivered a low effort on goal from the right after 55 minutes, but the angle was too narrow and the shot went harmlessly into the side netting. Elpra increased the lead to 2 - 5 as K. Hapala scored from the penalty spot, putting the ball in near the top left corner. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave A. Port from Elpra a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 71 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! Athletics were forced into a substitution as O. Gažik couldn't continue due to some rough treatment, forcing A. Moedinger to come in off the bench. Elpra's R. Kaňa got himself booked for a foul. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Athletics, with 54 percent of the ball.

Most important Athletics player was M. Vogl. However, L. Piskač made a disastrous appearance. Elpra's top performer was clearly A. Port. R. Kotala on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 2 - 5.