Vejanese 2 - 2 manukkia.81 (381824148)

Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 16568 to Camp Novo. Tomek Dyka was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Raphael Skywalker and Balionis Burškys. Vejanese started off with a 4-4-2 lineup. Lineup: Karvouniaris - Papp, Smith, Margan, Knudsen - Rats, Rautaoja, Pellecchia, Janbu - Mainguet, Wortmann.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for manukkia.81. The following players took the field: Kralj - Geslain, Monforte, Alchin - Stalpart, Berg, Rouzaud, Frissen, Gallino - Segal, Lodolini.

Pressing was the tactic of the day for Vejanese. 11 minutes into the match, manukkia.81 nearly took the lead, as A. Stalpart broke through on the right. I. Karvouniaris made the save, however. The referee showed Vejanese's T. Knudsen the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Making his way up the middle 14 minutes into the match, R. Wortmann almost managed to squeeze a goal past the visitors' keeper, but the alert I. Kralj blocked it to keep the score level. When T. Knudsen made yet another studs-first tackle after 17 minutes, the referee was obliged to book the Vejanese player for the second time, sending him off the pitch. With 19 minutes played, the visitors broke through on the right after some poor defending. A. Monforte put the ball away for 0 - 1. After 23 minutes manukkia.81's I. Kralj contracted a slight foot injury, but didn't want to leave the game. Given a free kick close to the byline, manukkia.81 tried a move that loyal fans may recognise from training. A pass to the side pulled the defence out of position which let B. Segal slip through on goal. He didn't have to break his stride, and slipped the ball past the keeper to make it 0 - 2, 25 minutes into the game. At this point, it was obvious that the players of manukkia.81 lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. Halftime score was 0 - 2. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by manukkia.81, with 67 percent of the ball.

M. Frissen wanted to play on, but the manukkia.81 coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 52 minutes into the game by D. Gulli. The pressing tactics used by Vejanese were successful as the ball remained close to the half way line at all times. B. Rats sailed high above the opponents as he headed in a corner kick from D. Smith after 74 minutes of play, making the score 1 - 2. At this time in the match, Vejanese were using their skill at pressing to successfully stifle the game. There was concern in the stands when, at the 78 minute mark, manukkia.81's A. Monforte hit the ground hard, but he refused the attention of the trainer and rejoined his teammates on the pitch. With 79 minutes having been played, Vejanese scored to make it 2 - 2. A dribble down the left wing, followed by a shot which took a wicked bounce off a defender resulted in the keeper having no chance. Everyone thought it'd been an own goal, but R. Wortmann was marked down as the scorer. manukkia.81 had most of the ball, with 67 percent of possession.

Vejanese's best player was E. Pellecchia. B. Rats turned in a dismal performance, however. manukkia.81's top performer was clearly O. Rouzaud. M. Lodolini was a disappointment, however. The match ends 2 - 2.