Geppetto 2 - 0 NAPOLONE (381740247)

Dark skies made the crowd of 44875 at Geppetto Arena a little nervous, but the rain held off. Radislav Ťapák was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Joel Karindi and Leo Gâlcã. Geppetto tactics involved an interesting 3-4-3 combination. They fielded: Orkondonagoitia - Bazsó, Marakanov, Karpenko - Talvisto, Boti, Dwornikowski, Olijslager - Abaroa, Rasom, Zgutczyński.

NAPOLONE decided to use a 5-3-2 set up. Lineup: Timić - Aprigliano, Cavani, Delogu, Guglielmino, Bocco - van IJssel, Schafthuizen, Benavente - Loorens, Banor.

NAPOLONE were relying on their ability to counter-attack. 7 minutes into the match and the home team took a 1 - 0 lead after breaking through on the left. The scorer for Geppetto was F. Rasom. After 9 minutes a very unfortunate collision in the penalty area led to NAPOLONE's N. Delogu being carried off the pitch and replaced by P. Bigatti. After 12 minutes, NAPOLONE surprised their opponents with a breakaway counter attack. The defenders had to resort to a foul to stop it. The free kick that followed was a clever indirect effort that almost succeeded, but the defence read the situation well and the intended recipient was left ruing what might have been. After 27 minutes, D. Dwornikowski put Geppetto ahead 2 - 0 when he rose to head in a cross from the right wing. It was 2 - 0 at the break. Geppetto claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 61 percent.

NAPOLONE's right side looked dangerous after 66 minutes, as M. van IJssel broke through. G. Orkondonagoitia continued to stifle them, however, as he made the save look easy. Geppetto put in a good effort on the right, but D. Dwornikowski saw his volley fly wide of the mark 67 minutes into the game. NAPOLONE's defence sent a ball soaring up the middle on a beautiful counterattack with 68 minutes gone, but P. Aprigliano's finish was met by the reaching hands of the keeper. The bench was restless, and with 70 minutes passed NAPOLONE's coach gave E. Barbizzi the opportunity the player had been hoping for. M. van IJssel reluctantly left the field. Geppetto's L. Abaroa swung in a good chance from the left, but the visitors' defence were able to clear the ball. Possession in this half belonged to Geppetto, who controlled the ball 59 percent of the time.

Geppetto's best player was L. Abaroa. D. Marakanov turned in a dismal performance, however. NAPOLONE's top performer was clearly P. Aprigliano. However, P. Bigatti made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 2 - 0.