Runners 3 - 1 CHEKEBO (382966213)

Dark skies made the crowd of 33492 at Rachael Stadium a little nervous, but the rain held off. Jarmo Tehumardi was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Niklas Sunesson and Néstor Raúl Paz. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Runners. The following players took the field: Monhait - Machón, Petrov, Guercolata - Ruiz Jiménez, Vermiesch, Markfort, Draksjö, Pieroni - Halldorsson, Elejalde.

CHEKEBO started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Starters: Villa Cano - Goryl, Stenersen, Celeghini - bin Wahab, Tiley, O'Neill, Mendoza, Chamaca - Saranello, Queck.

CHEKEBO tried to focus their attacks down the middle. 12 minutes had elapsed when a great chance for Runners to take the lead after a good cross from the right found B. Machón alone with the keeper, but he chipped it to the wrong side of the post. After 14 minutes, L. Halldorsson came in from the right, feinted, then sped past the off-balance defender to make the score 1 - 0, giving Runners the lead. V. Elejalde caught everyone off guard with a great opening pass - but unfortunately T. Pieroni was as surprised by the move as anybody else, and managed to miss the extraordinary opportunity. The referee showed Runners's R. Ruiz Jiménez the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. It was obvious that team CHEKEBO had instructions to attack in the middle instead of on the wings. CHEKEBO tied it all up, 25 minutes in, after a spectacular goal by V. Queck, who miraculously broke through the home side's central defence, making it 1 - 1. Against a lesser team, CHEKEBO could very well have succeeded with their smart indirect free kick routine after 27 minutes. A trio of passes took the ball all the way past the defenders, but by then the intended recipient was already blocked off and the keeper could make a leisurely save. B. Machón gave Runners 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 teams went for the halftime break at 2 - 1. Runners claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 52 percent.

After 50 minutes, K. Vermiesch put Runners ahead 3 - 1 when he rose to head in a cross from the right wing. With 57 minutes gone, Runners's R. Ruiz Jiménez had to leave the pitch after talking back to the referee and receiving his second booking. After 67 minutes CHEKEBO's L. Tiley had to be carried off on a stretcher in agony. A. Bancoş came in to replace him. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, A. O'Neill got himself booked. The manager of CHEKEBO was not happy. 81 minutes into the game, CHEKEBO's attack got through on the right, but A. Bancoş couldn't handle the ball and his feeble kick wound up in the keeper's arms. CHEKEBO kept trying to force their way through on the right side and A. O'Neill got his chance after 84 minutes, but the home side's defence held their position and stopped the attack. CHEKEBO had a good opportunity to attack on the wing, but remembered their instructions to go for middle attacks. P. Chamaca had a couple of good opportunities to reply, but the home team's keeper M. Monhait was simply unbeatable. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by CHEKEBO, with 52 percent of the ball.

The most dominating Runners player was without a doubt K. Vermiesch. M. Monhait turned in a dismal performance, however. CHEKEBO's best player was A. O'Neill. A. Bancoş on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 3 - 1.