Espadas 1 - 3 fc.vilalba (382997421)

A scorching day at San Pedro, where 29468 spectators were in place for today's match. Kenny De Caluwé was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Jesús Pablo Martín and Aage Fredgaard. A 3-4-3 alignment was the formation of choice for Espadas. The following players had been chosen: Ayala - Boulard, Mata, Tarabochia - Heras Aguilar, Baudy, Capatt, Leistner - Menéndez, Nava, Canell.

fc.vilalba tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. They fielded: Cantorné - Carpiteiro, Suñer, Fuster - Sarraz, Bochra, van Nes, Berlage, Lohkamp - Acosta, Strašík.

It was an obvious ambition of fc.vilalba to use their ability at attacking on the flanks. V. Acosta's technique was perfect on this sunny day and led to some breathtaking tricks that bamboozled the defence. fc.vilalba's M. Suñer gave the visitors a 0 - 1 lead after 31 minutes with a superb strike from the right. There was concern in the stands when, at the 35 minute mark, fc.vilalba's M. Sarraz hit the ground hard, but he refused the attention of the trainer and rejoined his teammates on the pitch. Espadas's S. Menéndez was shown a yellow card after 36 minutes for slicing down an opponent. After a fatal mistake from the away team's right side defence 37 minutes into the match, an alert E. Heras Aguilar bagged the ball for Espadas, levelling the score to 1 - 1. After 40 minutes, fc.vilalba's V. Acosta made his way through the middle and nonchalantly placed the ball out of the keeper's reach, putting the visitors up 1 - 2. 1 - 2 was the halftime score. Espadas claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 59 percent.

With 53 minutes played, after a good run down the left, S. Menéndez went down looking for a penalty after a challenge from the visitors' right fullback, but the referee waved play on, and later warned him for diving. With 55 minutes played, a quick exchange of passes on the left wing freed B. Strašík of fc.vilalba to slip through the defence and score another goal for the visitors. That made the score 1 - 3. With 60 minutes played, the Espadas coach decided a substitution may help turn the game around. J. Flasz came on, M. Mata had to leave the fray. L. Berlage came close to extending the visitors' lead when he found himself completely unmarked in front of the goal after a pass through the middle. He tried to lift the ball over Á. Ayala but overcooked it and hit the bar instead. Espadas enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 58 percent of possession.

Espadas's top performer was clearly R. Capatt. J. Leistner on the other hand, had a terrible day. fc.vilalba's best player was B. Strašík. However, S. Cantorné made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 1 - 3.