testa 1 - 3 SS-PAOLO (381670009)

27749 spectators had come to Gran Skrasna Arena this cloudy day. Inge Torerberg was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Jyrki Gordejeff and Per Knutsson. testa started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players took the field: Sallinen - Nordby, Abas, bin Omar - Kronin, Xuncal, Erd, Vukan, Garcia - Barontini, Celton.

A 3-4-3 alignment was the formation of choice for SS-PAOLO. Starters: Andreuccetti - Rotatori, Di Natale, Nyhell - Torri, Pomarè, Guido, Vainikka - Schiazza, Paulsson, Lambić.

SS-PAOLO mostly ignored the flanks in favour of their ability to attack in the middle. The guests took the lead 4 minutes into the match, after a right-side attack resulted in T. Pomarè scoring to make it 0 - 1. D. Celton charged down the left and had a wonderful opportunity to score the equaliser for testa, but the shot went well wide of the goal. The corner kick from P. Di Natale was powerfully met by the head of J. Vainikka to make the score 0 - 2. K. Lambić's lightning pace was too much for M. Abas who could only look on as the SS-PAOLO player blasted one home. 0 - 3. 0 - 3 was the score after the first half. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by testa, with 57 percent of the ball.

The home side worked hard to get through the middle and as a result, had a good chance of getting one back as J. Garcia tried lifting the ball over keeper S. Andreuccetti. Unfortunately, the ball went just over the bar. testa's B. Barontini cut towards the middle after 78 minutes, receiving a brilliant pass and slicing through the visiting team's central defence, reducing the lead to 1 - 3. testa's B. Barontini managed a superb strike from the left after 84 minutes that would have left goalkeeper S. Andreuccetti without a chance, had it not hit the post. Possession in this half belonged to testa, who controlled the ball 58 percent of the time.

Most important testa player was B. Barontini. On the other hand, I. Kronin's play was disheartening. M. Schiazza performed admirably for SS-PAOLO. J. Vainikka was a disappointment, however. The match ends 1 - 3.