Spreewald 1 - 0 Blackstars (384491709)

The crowd of 16515 turning up at Spreewälder Gurkenpott today were greeted with some nasty showers of rain. Dolev Skandrani was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Jesper Larsen and Daniel Peinlich. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Spreewald. They fielded: Velim - Zajc, Vodenicharov, Poch - Haitze, Gawryluk, Hărăbor, Leão, Petersgrube - Holubek, Belov.

Blackstars decided to use a 4-4-2 set up. The following players had been chosen: Huaita - Sá Correia, Mamprin, da Costa, Dritsakis - Rigaudeau, Zhdan, Kutev, Aellen - Pierret, Pais.

The strategy for Blackstars was to use their ability to press. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave M. Poch from Spreewald a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 8 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! T. Dritsakis was struggling to make the ball dance with his usual trickery and panache, and the opposing players had little trouble shutting him down in these muddy conditions. Spreewald fans held their breath as K. Gawryluk scampered down the left side. He successfully avoided all challenges and cracked home the shot for 1 - 0! After 20 minutes, following yet another great corner, L. Rigaudeau's flick on at the near post reached G. Aellen, who was just wide with his snapshot - the ball went out for a goal kick. D. Vodenicharov should probably have put his team up another goal after 24 minutes, but some great goalkeeping by T. Huaita kept the visitors in the game. Blackstars's C. Pais was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 25 minutes. When M. Poch made yet another studs-first tackle after 30 minutes, the referee was obliged to book the Spreewald player for the second time, sending him off the pitch. Halftime score was 1 - 0. Spreewald claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 61 percent.

The pressing tactics used by Blackstars were successful as the ball remained close to the half way line at all times. Blackstars were close to putting the equaliser away after 57 minutes as the opposing defence lost control of the ball to T. Dritsakis in a scuffle towards the left of the goal, but in the end the ball was cleared over the dead ball line. With 64 minutes played, the visitors could have drawn level after C. Pais came through the middle, but his kick went wide. D. Mamprin dispatched a majestic long shot 65 minutes into the match, but missed the goal by a few metres. Spreewald had most of the ball, with 62 percent of possession.

D. Holubek performed admirably for Spreewald. M. Zajc was a disappointment, however. Most important Blackstars player was M. Pierret. However, T. Huaita made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 1 - 0.