Wetzikon 5 - 1 POLK (384886816)

31464 spectators had found their way to Barça Wetzikon Arena, despite the heavy rain. Peter Tobreken was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Jarne Herremans and Edmund Wojaczek. Wetzikon tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Starters: Korolenko - Casarin, Stamatakos, Carner - Gély, Hellmann-Ernstberger, Stähli, Bajeux, Borselli - Ślemp, Touati.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for POLK. Lineup: Lill - Larsson, Siedler, Vittecoq - Henales, Granger, Buhofer, Domenig, Huey - Brune, Eggers.

Having been awarded a free kick in an awkward position after 4 minutes, Wetzikon did not go for a shot but instead fired the ball hard into the 6 yard box. After a brief tussle with his marker, D. Hellmann-Ernstberger was able to power the ball past the keeper to make the score 1 - 0. Cheers filled the stadium as J. Stähli broke through the visitors' central defence to put away the ball to increase the lead to 2 - 0 to Wetzikon. At this point, it was obvious that the players of Wetzikon lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. The Wetzikon free kick 19 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 A. Casarin, who was completely unmarked in the box. That's 3 - 0! The boggy pitch disrupted the game, especially for technical players like Y. Touati. D. Hellmann-Ernstberger could have increased the lead after 39 minutes, but his shot hit the post after a nice combination in the middle of the park. It was a bad day for the usually speedy S. Borselli. The mud seemed to slow him down. After 42 minutes, J. Stähli put Wetzikon ahead 4 - 0 when he rose to head in a cross from the right wing. The teams went for the halftime break at 4 - 0. Possession in this half belonged to Wetzikon, who controlled the ball 54 percent of the time.

A corner kick created great disorder in the penalty area with a goal nearly scored by C. Eggers. At last, POLK's M. Huey was able to backheel the ball in. 4 - 1. POLK needed a fresh pair of legs on the field, and after 65 minutes M. Huey made way for C. Reina. A magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Wetzikon's M. Ślemp increasing the lead to 5 - 1. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave Y. Touati from Wetzikon a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 76 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! POLK's M. Larsson was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 80 minutes. Wetzikon had most of the ball, with 59 percent of possession.

Wetzikon's top performer was clearly J. Stähli. G. Gély turned in a dismal performance, however. The most dominating POLK player was without a doubt L. Granger. M. Larsson was a disappointment, however. The match ends 5 - 1.