Newbie 4 - 4 Pearces (383935206)

Clouds darkened the skies at Arena of the Titans as 19657 spectators turned up for the match. Johnny Persson was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Hazem Sharpe and Álvaro Domínguez. Newbie had chosen a strategic 3-4-3 formation. Starters: Kovač - Gaudon, Schierbeek, Jakeš - Sørensen, Orsomando, Bjørn, Flamér - Zanni, Oltmans, Kuopila.

Pearces tactics involved an interesting 3-4-3 combination. The following players had been chosen: Bazler - Dubois, Polo, Spano - Brunoro, Cruz, Magnou, Balawender - Puglits, Van Hese, Bálint.

It was an obvious ambition of Newbie to use their ability at attacking on the flanks. Pearces seemed to prefer attacking in the middle. T. Flamér's early cross saw the defenders caught out of position and the alert J. Kuopila was able to pounce and roll the ball past the hapless goalkeeper to score for Newbie. 1 - 0. It was obvious that team Pearces had instructions to attack in the middle instead of on the wings. After 27 minutes, the visitors levelled the scores after D. Cruz made it through the middle and struck home to make it 1 - 1. Newbie took the lead 29 minutes into the match after a magnificent free kick by Y. Orsomando that made the score 2 - 1. After 31 minutes, the visitors tied it up at 2 - 2 when a fantastic pass from the left was finished off by M. Bálint. Some good play on the left wing created an opportunity for the visitors 32 minutes into the match, and F. Van Hese wasn't about to let it go by. He got past the defenders and fired a shot that the keeper just missed. 2 - 3 for the visitors. Halftime score was 2 - 3. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Pearces, with 54 percent of the ball.

The coach of Pearces was happy with the game so far, but still wanted to change the line up. After 63 minutes, J. Onuškevičius came on for G. Brunoro. After 65 minutes, Pearces were awarded a free kick. Rather than shooting straight at goal, the taker went for an indirect variant which seemed to take his team mates a bit by surprise. R. Magnou did attempt a finish, but from an awkward position, sending the ball into the away fans. After a fatal mistake from the away team's right side defence 66 minutes into the match, an alert G. Zanni bagged the ball for Newbie, levelling the score to 3 - 3. Pearces were determined to attack in the middle, even their wing attacks ended up centrally. R. Magnou came close to putting the visiting team one up 70 minutes into the match, following a solo raid down the middle, but R. Kovač managed to tip the ball to a corner. Newbie's counterattacks were lethal to the opposing defence, allowing E. Oltmans to score easily from the right flank for 4 - 3. V. Ljeljak was called on to replace Pearces's R. Magnou after 84 minutes following a nasty collision. Pearces levelled the score after 87 minutes to make it 4 - 4, as D. Cruz struck home after a fine midfield combination through the centre, which left him completely unmarked. R. Kovač looked great 89 minutes into the match after stopping a shot from the middle of the penalty area from the visitors' V. Dubois. Some great play up the middle by Newbie led to a chance for G. Zanni to score after 89 minutes, but the shot hit the crossbar. Pearces claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 55 percent.

Newbie's top performer was clearly E. Oltmans. K. Jakeš on the other hand, had a terrible day. Most important Pearces player was F. Van Hese. However, J. Onuškevičius made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 4 - 4.