Ercolina 4 - 3 CIUSKI (382000884)

10194 punters turned up at Ulysse Stadium, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came. Heikki Torkko was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Alastair Fraser and Stefan Tarnawa. Ercolina decided to use a 2-5-3 set up. The following players had been chosen: Câmpean - Berliner, Auble - Örfi, Schlatter, Östlius, Tarhouni, Jerominek - Collura, Ospennikov, van Tijsterkamp.

CIUSKI started off with a 3-4-3 lineup. Starters: Dejean - Wolfach, Ghirardelli, Baroncini - Cavina, Kałużyński, Mouly, Gianello - Karn, Paoloni, Rizzato.

It was an obvious ambition of CIUSKI to use their ability at attacking on the flanks. Ercolina's R. Jerominek was dominating his wing and kept sending fine balls into the opposition's box - V. Collura managed to volley one of them into the net to make it 1 - 0 after 5 minutes. The home side's A. Ospennikov came close to extending the lead 10 minutes into the game. His shot came in from the right hand side but B. Dejean managed to save it with an unbelievable reaction stop. The visitors' L. Paoloni came close to levelling the score after 17 minutes with a free kick that went just wide of the top left corner. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave E. Schlatter from Ercolina a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 27 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! M. Ghirardelli hit the corner kick straight to the keeper, but it was mishandled, giving CIUSKI's L. Cavina an easy chance to knock it in for 1 - 1. V. Collura gave Ercolina the lead as he successfully challenged the guests' central defenders, then slotted the ball into the bottom corner, giving the keeper no chance. 2 - 1 The visitors' equaliser seemed sure to come after 35 minutes, following a one on one situation around the left hand side of the goal area, but M. Câmpean got the best of it, blocking the shot from O. Karn. 40 minutes into the game, L. Paoloni had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came L. Miolato. As the captain was no longer on the pitch, C. Kałużyński took over the role of being the CIUSKI captain. Ercolina's V. Collura swung in a good chance from the left, but the visitors' defence were able to clear the ball. With 42 minutes played, Ç. Örfi of Ercolina fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. V. Collura increased the lead for Ercolina to 3 - 1, getting a head onto a hooked ball from the right. The ball looked to have taken a deflection on the way in, but he's claiming it! At that, V. Collura was noted down for a hat trick! Halftime score was 3 - 1. Ercolina had most of the ball, with 59 percent of possession.

Content with how the game was proceeding, the Ercolina coach let M. Chareyre replace P. Östlius after 46 minutes. A bit later, CIUSKI's C. Gianello easily reduced the lead to 3 - 2 after a misunderstanding in the home side's central defence. The coach of Ercolina was happy with the game so far, but still wanted to change the line up. After 60 minutes, B. Selle came on for E. Schlatter. É. Auble was handed the Ercolina captain's armband. Ercolina's R. Jerominek left the field after 62 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was S. Heilshoop. With 67 minutes played, Ercolina's A. Ospennikov almost extended the lead, but his shot from the left glanced off the top of the bar to fall behind the net. Given a free kick close to the byline, CIUSKI tried a move that loyal fans may recognise from training. A pass to the side pulled the defence out of position which let L. Cavina slip through on goal. He didn't have to break his stride, and slipped the ball past the keeper to make it 3 - 3, 73 minutes into the game. Ercolina took the lead 74 minutes into the game by 4 - 3, as R. van Tijsterkamp elegantly received a long range pass through the middle, finishing off with a half-volley shot just below the bar. Ercolina claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 62 percent.

V. Collura performed admirably for Ercolina. However, S. Heilshoop made a disastrous appearance. The most dominating CIUSKI player was without a doubt O. Karn. B. Dejean turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 4 - 3.