Linas 9 - 1 Blankenau (384716893)

2309 punters turned up at Baby Mc Box, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came. Claus Raus was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Thomas Ohlstad and Eike Kolarik. Linas decided to use a 3-4-3 set up. They fielded: Birtles - Seehann, Bolet, Pflumern - Wetoszka, Samko, Horlebein, Borgeln - Brücklmeier, Talarico, Grotjahn.

Blankenau started off with a 4-4-2 lineup. Lineup: Moosegger - Schink, Kircher, Höhle, Wunderatsch - Nitz, Tscharnuter, Greinstetter, Deimel - Rottmanner, Ranzinger.

Linas used their ability to concentrate their attacks in the middle of the pitch, rather than on the wings. After 13 minutes, there was a bit of a mixup on the field as Linas found themselves out of position and their organisation level dropped to passable. P. Talarico caused the crowd to go mental with his goal up the middle after 18 minutes. This gave Linas the 1 - 0 lead. A. Deters was called on to replace Linas's K. Brücklmeier after 32 minutes following a nasty collision. Linas increased the lead as P. Grotjahn struck to make the score 2 - 0 after an attack from the left left him unmarked in front of the keeper. After 38 minutes, R. Schink sent the corner kick right to H. Höhle who headed it sharply past the keeper. 2 - 1! Linas were given a gift! The ref dubiously awarded them a penalty 39 minutes into the match, which was neatly put away by M. Bolet. 3 - 1 for the home side. Blankenau's H. Höhle was shown a yellow card after 42 minutes for slicing down an opponent. Cheers filled the stadium as A. Deters broke through the visitors' central defence to put away the ball to increase the lead to 4 - 1 to Linas. Linas's M. Bolet struck his penalty well enough to beat the goalkeeper and extend the home team's lead to 5 - 1 after 44 minutes. By now, the players in Linas felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. 44 minutes into the game, Linas seemed a little tentative in their play as their organization fell to inadequate. Halftime score was 5 - 1. Linas claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 75 percent.

The Linas players spent the break getting a rerun of the team's tactical organisation and regained a solid organisation when the game started again. Linas's P. Talarico had an excellent opportunity after 47 minutes, shooting after receiving a pass from the right hand side, but he missed the goal by miles! After 58 minutes, a couple of quick and successful challenges followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area by P. Grotjahn might have resulted in another goal for Linas. However, A. Moosegger made a spectacular save. 63 minutes into the match M. Bolet put Linas ahead 6 - 1 with a truly marvelous free kick. That was his third goal of the match - a hat trick for M. Bolet. Almost all the way down to the corner flag, Linas's K. Wetoszka somehow managed to get a perfect pass into the middle, impossible to miss for P. Grotjahn, who struck for 7 - 1. Things were deteriorating for the away team as Linas scored another to make it 8 - 1 after a left side attack resulted in a goal for K. Wetoszka after 71 minutes. A. Deters increased the lead for Linas to 9 - 1, getting a head onto a hooked ball from the right. The ball looked to have taken a deflection on the way in, but he's claiming it! Possession in this half belonged to Linas, who controlled the ball 77 percent of the time.

Linas's top performer was clearly M. Bolet. G. Birtles was a disappointment, however. K. Rottmanner performed admirably for Blankenau. A. Moosegger turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 9 - 1.