Shire 4 - 1 Defenders (384262423)

Weather conditions were fairly good for football, and This Machine Kills Fascists saw a crowd turnout of 52386. Giuseppe Arcellotti was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Enrique Orense and Kevin Rishult. Shire tactics involved an interesting 3-4-3 combination. Starters: Pasin - Cuerla, Driller, Klöters - Vona, Baskin, Haig, Stan - Thornes, Rolfe, Steiner.

Defenders decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. They fielded: Main - Szlanyinka, Irastorza, Kellie - Albergaria, Schlimm, Gallacher, Michel, Martinez - Roceiro, Lovisi.

Shire's A. Cuerla got himself booked for a foul. Defenders's G. Kellie was shown a yellow card after 33 minutes for slicing down an opponent. M. Albergaria came close to putting the visiting team one up 36 minutes into the match, following a solo raid down the middle, but K. Pasin managed to tip the ball to a corner. Many thought D. Stan ought to have been awarded a penalty 37 minutes into the game, as he went down trying to dribble around A. Main after a determined run through the middle. The visitors' central defence should have had no trouble clearing the pass to J. Thornes, but the Shire player managed to shrug them off and fired a low shot past the keeper to give his team the lead. 1 - 0! 1 - 0 was the score after the first half. Shire enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 62 percent of possession.

After 51 minutes, the away team failed to deal with a good exchange of passes on the right, and L. Baskin gave the Shire supporters even more to cheer about when he increased the lead to 2 - 0. Shire's G. Vona increased the lead to 3 - 0, after he saw his shot go between the legs of the advancing goalkeeper following some good play down the right wing after 61 minutes. The visitors got a chance to pulling one back after 64 minutes, due to a defensive blunder leaving P. Lovisi completely unmarked. His strike was pathetic though, easy prey for the home side's keeper. Things were going to get worse for the visitors. J. Thornes squirmed through their central defence after 71 minutes, increasing the lead to 4 - 0. Defenders had a fair chance to reply after 73 minutes due to some fine moves down the left, but in the end M. Schlimm was slow to keep up with the play and was unable to make it into the penalty box to apply a finish. With 74 minutes showing on the scoreboard clock, Defenders showed some good skill and were able to reduce the score to 4 - 1 when C. Gallacher got past the home side's central defenders right in front of the goal. Shire had most of the ball, with 60 percent of possession.

Shire's top performer was clearly I. Steiner. On the other hand, A. Cuerla's play was disheartening. Defenders's best player was P. Lovisi. M. Albergaria turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 4 - 1.