Transformers 0 - 9 Rabagast (384171231)

The crowd of 7797 turning up at Tullevål Stadion today were greeted with some nasty showers of rain. Timmy Røkke was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Keijo Färm and Joseph Debono. Transformers had chosen a strategic 3-4-3 formation. The following players took the field: Moe - Gjerdrum, Cantarini, Idsø - Boogaerts, Larsen, Lundbakk, Zwierzchowski - Romsåshagen, Myklebust, Gudmundsen.

Rabagast decided to use a 3-4-3 set up. Lineup: Brossard - Tinti, Myrlius, Anfinnsen - van Biene, Granly, Ovando, Johansson - Lund, Kovalev, Zilberstein.

Transformers saw most attack opportunities on the wings. It was an obvious ambition of Rabagast to use their ability at attacking on the flanks. The home crowd was not impressed by the fancy moves of Rabagast's I. Kovalev after 9 minutes. He converted a pass from the left for a goal, resulting in the visitors taking the 0 - 1 lead. In a rapid move 14 minutes into the match, H. Johansson of Rabagast lost his man and passed the ball to the unmarked E. Lund who easily hit it home to make it 0 - 2. Luckily the ref didn't see him taunting the opposing fans in celebration - naughty boy! A well placed corner kick from H. Johansson was followed by H. van Biene's hard but accurate header. The well executed routine resulted in a goal for Rabagast, the score now 0 - 3. Rabagast increased their lead after 25 minutes when N. Granly broke through on the right, upping the score to 0 - 4, much to the home crowd's dismay. After this, you could see that the players of Rabagast were more interested in killing time than scoring more goals. Transformers's M. Larsen was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 26 minutes. I. Kovalev did not have a good day today, often losing his footing on the muddy pitch. Attacking on the wings was the choice for Rabagast, and they were successfully passing the ball from the middle to the wings to attack. Had it not been for one of the home defenders, D. Tinti would have put Rabagast up another goal 34 minutes into the match with his audacious lob from the right wing. After 35 minutes, Rabagast's D. Tinti burst through the central defence and let loose a cannonball of a shot, scoring for 0 - 5. 35 minutes into the match, a typically brave header by E. Lund from H. Johansson's cross looped just over the opposing goalkeeper's desperate reach. Goal for Rabagast, making the score 0 - 6. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave N. Granly from Rabagast a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 36 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! Having been awarded a free kick in an awkward position after 38 minutes, Rabagast did not go for a shot but instead fired the ball hard into the 6 yard box. After a brief tussle with his marker, E. Lund was able to power the ball past the keeper to make the score 0 - 7. That was his third goal of the match - a hat trick for E. Lund. 0 - 7 was the halftime score. Rabagast had most of the ball, with 71 percent of possession.

After 80 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for E. Lund who increased Rabagast's lead to 0 - 8. It was obvious that Rabagast had instructions to attack on the wings instead of in the middle. Players in Rabagast heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their central attacks to the wings instead. Some fine movement on the left led to a Rabagast goal after 83 minutes, making it 0 - 9. H. van Biene was noted down as the scorer. Rabagast had a good opportunity to attack in the middle, but remembered their instructions to focus on wing attacks instead. After 86 minutes of game time, I. Kovalev had an excellent opportunity to add to the visitors' lead, clipping a volley hooked in from the right, but A. Moe was in the right place and tipped the ball over for a corner. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Rabagast, with 68 percent of the ball.

M. Romsåshagen performed admirably for Transformers. A. Moe was a disappointment, however. Most important Rabagast player was M. Ovando. On the other hand, H. van Biene's play was disheartening. The match ends 0 - 9.