Oppugnatio 2 - 5 *OFC* (384368407)

32995 spectators had come to 6 feet under this cloudy day. Hendrik Test was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Luciano Falaschi and Cristiano de Freitas. A 2-5-3 alignment was the formation of choice for Oppugnatio. The following players took the field: Zwierzchowski - Schaufuss, Bom - Omoro, Rufener, Hendrich, Guerber, Thorninger - Malmsheim, Zeba, Knizat.

*OFC* decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. Lineup: Bertolissi - Alavuković, Hiiva, Patano - Allouche, Oprescu, Holeček, Kovačević, Kuryłowicz - Costantini, Hîldan.

Oppugnatio took the lead after 9 minutes as a result of A. Schaufuss's peach of a shot from the right hand side of the box - placed beautifully in the top corner. 1 - 0. With 33 minutes played, the visitors almost levelled the score. P. Holeček shot a hard curved free kick, striking the post. The crowd was silenced 37 minutes into the match as the visiting team's L. Costantini came in from the left, levelling the score to 1 - 1. M. Alavuković of *OFC* received a yellow card after 40 minutes for unsportsmanlike behaviour. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave A. Malmsheim from Oppugnatio a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 41 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! With 42 minutes played, the visitors broke through on the right after some poor defending. V. Hîldan put the ball away for 1 - 2. The referee showed *OFC*'s L. Kuryłowicz the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. 1 - 2 was the score after the first half. Oppugnatio claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 58 percent.

E. Hendrich showed the skills that make him a real crowd pleaser as he, after 63 minutes, wove through the guests' entire central defence and put the 2 - 2 equaliser away. P. Holeček gave the visitors the lead 65 minutes into the match to make it 2 - 3. The goal was scored from the penalty spot after a handball in the penalty area. The head of L. Kuryłowicz connected with a corner kick after 74 minutes, and the ball ended up with R. Kovačević of *OFC* who blasted the ball into the net, making the score 2 - 4. The *OFC* free kick 78 minutes into the match seemed wasted, as the shot was both short and off target. But was this actually a plan? The ball landed at the feet of P. Allouche, who was completely unmarked in the box. That's 2 - 5! By now, the players in *OFC* felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Oppugnatio, with 58 percent of the ball.

The most dominating Oppugnatio player was without a doubt B. Zeba. T. Thorninger was a disappointment, however. V. Hîldan performed admirably for *OFC*. D. Patano on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 2 - 5.