Genua 2 - 4 Tropancho (382580951)

34091 spectators had found their way to Stadio Genua, despite the heavy rain. Don Phipps was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Kilian Bader and Nelutu Acatrinei. Genua started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players took the field: Gelberg - Rogacz, Warta, Mularz - Abal, Gioi, Granahan, Zuabi, Castelão - Atelkin, Irurosqui.

Tropancho tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Starters: Peltekov - De Cesaris, Gherasim, Tiihonen - Habegger, Strahilov, Andonov, Penkov, Zechepreller - Goyeneche, Dillard.

Genua had a good opportunity to take the lead as M. Granahan came up the left side, but he struck the ball weakly and it went straight into the arms of L. Peltekov. The game was characterised by rough play and many physical challenges on the wet field, but K. Andonov showed great heart and had a good game. After 27 minutes, Tropancho's B. Penkov made his way through the middle and nonchalantly placed the ball out of the keeper's reach, putting the visitors up 0 - 1. L. Zechepreller slipped and slithered in the wet grass. His usual rapid runs were nowhere to be seen today. With 32 minutes played, Tropancho put themselves up 0 - 2 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. The scorer was T. Dillard. With 33 minutes played, a quick exchange of passes on the left wing freed T. Dillard of Tropancho to slip through the defence and score another goal for the visitors. That made the score 0 - 3. A. Castelão made one of his many fine passes from the wing into the middle 37 minutes into the match. O. Atelkin bravely attempted to execute a diving header and the ball was met firmly with his forehead for Genua. 1 - 3. The teams went for the halftime break at 1 - 3. Possession in this half belonged to Genua, who controlled the ball 51 percent of the time.

The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave M. Granahan from Genua a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 54 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! The boggy pitch disrupted the game, especially for technical players like I. Goyeneche. O. Atelkin tried to get a goal back for Genua but despite all his hard work down the right, he just couldn't complete the move. Genua's A. Castelão was shown a yellow card after 69 minutes for slicing down an opponent. The home team's supporters got excited again when R. Rogacz broke through the visitors' central defence and caught their keeper off guard, making it 2 - 3. The home crowd was not impressed when T. Dillard came in from the right, shooting hard to score after 78 minutes. Tropancho were now up 2 - 4. This third goal completed a hattrick for T. Dillard. At this point, it was obvious that the players of Tropancho lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. Tropancho had most of the ball, with 52 percent of possession.

A. Gelberg performed admirably for Genua. J. Abal turned in a dismal performance, however. Most important Tropancho player was T. Dillard. B. Penkov was a disappointment, however. The match ends 2 - 4.