Pearces 4 - 1 Newbie (383935184)

Clouds darkened the skies at Pearce Arena as 37618 spectators turned up for the match. Ignacio Carlos 'El loco' Ormeño was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Joan Gimeno and Cristiano Bistocchi. A 3-4-3 alignment was the formation of choice for Pearces. The following players had been chosen: Bazler - Dubois, Polo, Spano - Brunoro, Cruz, Magnou, Balawender - Puglits, Van Hese, Bálint.

Newbie tactics involved an interesting 3-4-3 combination. They fielded: Kovač - Gaudon, Schierbeek, Jakeš - Sørensen, Orsomando, Bjørn, Flamér - Oltmans, Deme, Kuopila.

Pearces mostly ignored the flanks in favour of their ability to attack in the middle. Newbie were mostly trying to use their skill at attacking on the flanks. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave G. Brunoro from Pearces a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 4 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! Pearces were very close to putting themselves one up after 5 minutes as V. Puglits got through on the left, but failing in concentration, he shot the ball wide. 23 minutes had elapsed when a great chance for Pearces to take the lead after a good cross from the right found G. Brunoro alone with the keeper, but he chipped it to the wrong side of the post. It was obvious that team Pearces had instructions to attack in the middle instead of on the wings. The visitors' central defence should have had no trouble clearing the pass to G. Brunoro, but the Pearces player managed to shrug them off and fired a low shot past the keeper to give his team the lead. 1 - 0! The referee showed Newbie's J. Kuopila the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. 1 - 0 was the score after the first half. Possession in this half belonged to Pearces, who controlled the ball 62 percent of the time.

The Pearces players could smell victory in the air. G. Brunoro wasn't in a hurry to leave the field as he was substituted for J. Onuškevičius after 63 minutes. Pearces managed to extend their lead to 2 - 0 when F. Van Hese cut in neatly from the left side and struck a fine shot past the away team's goalkeeper. Pearces's R. Magnou got himself booked for a foul. F. Van Hese's curling free kick almost found the goal for Pearces, but the visitors' keeper somehow managed to get ahold of it. 72 minutes into the match, the visitors' central line of defence had to look on as F. Van Hese broke through, making the score 3 - 0 for Pearces. 76 minutes in, an amazing pass from the left side resulted in a goal for the visitors, as E. Oltmans anticipated the through ball and scored, reducing the deficit to 3 - 1. Pearces's V. Puglits increased the lead to 4 - 1, after he saw his shot go between the legs of the advancing goalkeeper following some good play down the right wing after 78 minutes. Pearces enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 64 percent of possession.

Most important Pearces player was M. Bálint. However, C. Bazler made a disastrous appearance. Newbie's best player was J. Kuopila. T. Deme turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 4 - 1.