Grauz 3 - 1 Balttels (381509619)

48251 spectators had come to GRAUZ Arēna this cloudy day. Heinz Wiesinger was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Jens Christian Skals and Matías Sivisky. Grauz started off with a 5-3-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Fandiaga - Metlāns, Jansons, Lastochkin, Cirrotti, Benko - Weschnitz, Cabrita, Olofsson - Majors, Melvang.

A 3-4-3 alignment was the formation of choice for Balttels. Starters: Suprun - Wille-Wagner, Vojvoda, Bachs - Voets, Oswald, Akarsa, Molarinho - Querelle, Campelo, Eschmarke.

Grauz were relying on their ability to counter-attack. Balttels seemed to prefer attacking in the middle. Balttels's V. Molarinho showed his experience after 13 minutes, as he expertly set himself up to take advantage of a rebound off the crossbar, but his shot was tipped harmlessly out of the way. A lack of experience caused L. Jansons to make a difficult dribble close to dangerous opponent T. Eschmarke of Balttels, who took the opportunity to score making it 0 - 1. With 29 minutes played, Grauz's H. Melvang found an opening in the visitors' left side defence, but his shot was handled easily by the keeper. In a well-rehearsed move, Grauz delivered a free kick into the box which H. Melvang, soaring majestically above the defence, rose to head home to make the score 1 - 1. With 38 minutes played, R. Bachs of Balttels fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. It was 1 - 1 at the break. Grauz claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 53 percent.

With 49 minutes played, Grauz's well-worked indirect free kick caused havoc in the penalty area, and when the ball eventually fell to K. Weschnitz he gleefully slotted the ball home to make it 2 - 1. H. Melvang could have increased the lead after 74 minutes, but his shot hit the post after a nice combination in the middle of the park. After 76 minutes, Grauz 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 R. Majors, who had plenty of space to place a well aimed shot - 3 - 1. The players of Grauz now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. A. Suprun was caught napping as H. Melvang lifted a ball over him following a free kick, but the ball hit the bar, rebounding into the keeper's arms. Coming from the right, K. Weschnitz almost managed to score another goal for Grauz, but his header was tipped over the bar by the visitors' keeper. Grauz's G. Lastochkin had to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines, after twisting his ankle with 84 minutes having been played. R. Lembergs was the replacement. D. Fandiaga was handed the Grauz captain's armband. Grauz enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 53 percent of possession.

Grauz's best player was D. Fandiaga. However, N. Cabrita made a disastrous appearance. Balttels's top performer was clearly R. Campelo. On the other hand, M. Vojvoda's play was disheartening. The match ends 3 - 1.