Vikingi 3 - 2 Timberjack (381509122)

Clear skies welcomed the 39222 spectators who had made their way to Vikingi Arena. Josh Chahal was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Giuliano Cominelli and Aca Kolar. People from all over Rīga had joined up for the derby. Vikingi had chosen a strategic 3-4-3 formation. Lineup: Desmet - Niemczyński, Rezendes, Stern - Scheck, Fredriksson, Vera, Cristian - Shovkoplias, Chavan, Burjan.

Timberjack tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Mpourdas - Cvjetan, Corsi, van Xanten - Mandragallo, Vea, Nohejl, Uhor, Andriska - García, Frassoni.

Today, Timberjack's strategy involved concentrating on the flanks for their attacks. With 3 minutes played, the home side managed to get a 1 - 0 lead as I. Scheck flipped the ball in after a cross from the right. Things were going to get worse for the visitors. Y. Stern squirmed through their central defence after 14 minutes, increasing the lead to 2 - 0. A bit later, Timberjack's J. Nohejl easily reduced the lead to 2 - 1 after a misunderstanding in the home side's central defence. A. Shovkoplias should probably have put his team up another goal after 19 minutes, but some great goalkeeping by D. Mpourdas kept the visitors in the game. Halftime score was 2 - 1. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Timberjack, with 51 percent of the ball.

After 52 minutes, Timberjack sent a free kick in high over the penalty box. In what looked like a well-rehearsed move, the ball was headed backwards and reached I. Frassoni, who had plenty of space to place a well aimed shot - 2 - 2. A. García had a good try after 60 minutes, coming in on a fine move from the left, but the ball went wide. With 70 minutes gone, Timberjack had a free kick in a decent position. Despite this being a great chance for a shot, they tried a cheeky move intended to bypass the defence. However, I. Frassoni did not manage to connect with it cleanly and the ball went out. After 76 minutes, A. Fredriksson came in from the right, feinted, then sped past the off-balance defender to make the score 3 - 2, giving Vikingi the lead. Timberjack claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 57 percent.

Most important Vikingi player was A. Rezendes. On the other hand, R. Chavan's play was disheartening. Timberjack's top performer was clearly I. Frassoni. J. van Xanten turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 3 - 2.