alfarama 1 - 1 Higgins (384120708)

Due to an all-day shower, 26076 paying spectators got to see a match on a pitch-turned-bog at adventure arena. Dan Pettersson was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Bruno Balta and Ignacio Durazo. alfarama decided to use a 5-3-2 set up. They fielded: Lanari - Enersen, Kjerstad, Dunsky, Antonsen, Stadheim - Lønning, Holvik, Rudoy - Istrate, Bertelsen.

Higgins started off with a 4-3-3 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Skjong - Munck, Fraleoni, Akhvlediani, Kulasa - Pisalski, Rimml, van der Enk - Pruett, Remme, Decandia.

For their match strategy, Higgins had decided to use their ability to counter-attack whenever possible. Higgins's L. Munck had to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines, after twisting his ankle with 19 minutes having been played. T. Jensen was the replacement. The game was characterised by rough play and many physical challenges on the wet field, but T. Jensen showed great heart and had a good game. A. Decandia did not have a good day today, often losing his footing on the muddy pitch. Making his way up the middle 38 minutes into the match, R. Bertelsen almost managed to squeeze a goal past the visitors' keeper, but the alert A. Skjong blocked it to keep the score level. With the clock showing 39 minutes played, a great pass from the defensive line of Higgins resulted in a counterattack that was smoothly brought under control by G. Fraleoni in the centre of the opposition's penalty area, but his finish went high. Halftime score was 0 - 0. Possession in this half belonged to alfarama, who controlled the ball 73 percent of the time.

H. Rudoy was uncomfortable with the soggy pitch as he couldn't move the ball around with his usual grace. With 60 minutes played, F. van der Enk of Higgins fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. T. Jensen showed why he is feared on the counterattack, breaking through in the middle and scoring for Higgins after 67 minutes to make the score 0 - 1. After 74 minutes, O. Holvik made a dash down the middle past the away team's defenders to score the goal that made it 1 - 1. The referee showed alfarama's T. Antonsen the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Higgins were forced into a substitution as A. Decandia couldn't continue due to some rough treatment, forcing M. Kaltenrieder to come in off the bench. alfarama claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 70 percent.

alfarama's top performer was clearly O. Holvik. On the other hand, O. Kjerstad's play was disheartening. Most important Higgins player was C. Pruett. M. Kaltenrieder was a disappointment, however. The match ends 1 - 1.