IH-RA 1 - 4 ISOHALI (385473472)

58403 spectators arrived at IH-RA Arena, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Daniele Rovati was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Jorge Luís Cervantes and Niki Hamari. IH-RA tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Lebach - Bui, Coene, Murlidharan - Oca, Zhbankov, Batmaz, Törmälehto, Maars - Bullītis, Äikiö.

A 2-5-3 alignment was the formation of choice for ISOHALI. Lineup: Tamariz - Nedelcovici, Väänänen - Hilton, Vesala, Valkonen, Ekqvist, Pirskanen - Roos, de Almeida, Fournier.

It was an obvious ambition of IH-RA to use their ability at attacking on the flanks. J. Pirskanen's speed was clear to see after 28 minutes, as he darted down the wing and released A. de Almeida who placed the ball into the back of the net to make the score 0 - 1. After 34 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for J. Hilton who increased ISOHALI's lead to 0 - 2. After 36 minutes, S. Murlidharan sent the corner kick right to J. Törmälehto who headed it sharply past the keeper. 1 - 2! 1 - 2 was the score after the first half. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by IH-RA, with 56 percent of the ball.

H. Roos was the first to reach the corner kick, but his header was blocked by the keeper. However, ISOHALI's J. Hilton managed to get hold of the rebound and tucked the ball into the empty net. 1 - 3 With 55 minutes played, S. Murlidharan's free kick looked like a certain goal for IH-RA, but to his teammates' dismay, the keeper managed to tip it wide. After 60 minutes, IH-RA switched P. Maars with T. Maestre, hoping for a quick impact on the pitch. The home crowd cheered when, after 66 minutes, H. Roos's charge up the middle resulted in the keeper making one of his best saves of the day. IH-RA had to make a substitution after 84 minutes. R. Äikiö limped off the field and was replaced by E. Vana. The home side worked their way through the middle and almost got one back when T. Maestre tried to sneak the ball past the keeper. R. Tamariz was too alert for that! S. Zhbankov did everything he could to get one back for his IH-RA, but keeper R. Tamariz denied him with a spectacular block. 89 minutes into the match, the visitors put themselves ahead 1 - 4 as A. de Almeida finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. Confident in their lead, ISOHALI's players relaxed and focused more on defending the lead than increasing it. IH-RA had most of the ball, with 57 percent of possession.

IH-RA's best player was E. Bullītis. However, W. Lebach made a disastrous appearance. ISOHALI's top performer was clearly A. de Almeida. J. Väänänen on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 1 - 4.