F.C.GNAPPO 3 - 1 AlmavivA (381796673)

13166 spectators had found their way to Gnappo Balena, despite the heavy rain. Appie Hofman was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Ulf Hartdahl and Marlon Ackermans. F.C.GNAPPO decided to use a 2-5-3 set up. The following players took the field: Beleckis - Meckelfeld, Degortes - Lefebvre, Camacho, Rzeźnik, Bizzozero, Pavi - Blanco, Kučan, Inbar.

AlmavivA tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Palii - Pescetto, Cordera, Iluz - Puccini, Padula, Valat, Deturres, Defla - Pais, Loistl.

B. Inbar was having a great game - if anything the pouring rain seemed to be spurring him on! The home crowd breathed a collective sigh of relief when G. Loistl was unable to put the ball in the net after his show of skill down the left 27 minutes into the match. He was seen beating the pitch in frustration at missing such a good chance to give his team the lead! 33 minutes into the game, F.C.GNAPPO had difficulty finding their positions and their organisation dropped to passable. It was a bad day for the usually speedy R. Meckelfeld. The mud seemed to slow him down. The F.C.GNAPPO free kick 40 minutes into the match seemed wasted, as the shot was both short and off target. But was this actually a plan? The ball landed at the feet of B. Inbar, who was completely unmarked in the box. That's 1 - 0! J. Iluz made a run for the goal 41 minutes into the game but the home team's left back managed to sort the situation out in the end. 42 minutes into the game, F.C.GNAPPO seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion and they fell to a weak level of organisation. 1 - 0 was the score after the first half. AlmavivA claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 58 percent.

A review of the gameplan helped F.C.GNAPPO get back to a solid organisation when the referee blew his whistle again. The visitors refused to give in and, after 51 minutes, G. Loistl evened things up as he finished off a perfect pass from the right. 1 - 1 59 minutes in, F.C.GNAPPO appeared unsure on how to play and their organisation was only passable. Down the middle came G. Puccini, making a fantastic play that nearly had AlmavivA take the lead after 65 minutes, but K. Beleckis preserved the tie. F.C.GNAPPO took the lead 70 minutes into the game by 2 - 1, as B. Inbar elegantly received a long range pass through the middle, finishing off with a half-volley shot just below the bar. The rain made it hard for players like G. Loistl to show their technical control of the ball on this soggy day. F.C.GNAPPO increased the lead as B. Inbar struck to make the score 3 - 1 after an attack from the left left him unmarked in front of the keeper. By then B. Inbar had scored three goals - a hat trick! Possession in this half belonged to AlmavivA, who controlled the ball 57 percent of the time.

F.C.GNAPPO's top performer was clearly B. Inbar. On the other hand, U. Pavi's play was disheartening. The most dominating AlmavivA player was without a doubt D. Padula. H. Cordera turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 3 - 1.