Banquise 2 - 0 Occitanie (385857188)

38995 spectators arrived at Igloo Courbis, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Kari Ahlgren was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Roland François Jouve and Daniel Smith. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Banquise. The following players had been chosen: Pati - Forato, Rada, Rico - Varela, Étcheberry, Planque, Moneta, Häkkilä - Nowaliński, Glineur.

Occitanie decided to use a 4-3-3 set up. Starters: Zec - Wiedemann, Mutt, Gorenšek, Egedal - Dutartre, Bédier, Jourdan - Lemaire, Nagy, Garnier.

Occitanie were relying on their ability to counter-attack. Occitanie's L. Wiedemann was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 4 minutes. With 22 minutes played, D. Gorenšek of Occitanie fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. Occitanie's defence sent a ball soaring up the middle on a beautiful counterattack with 25 minutes gone, but B. Garnier's finish was met by the reaching hands of the keeper. 32 minutes in, the referee awarded Banquise a penalty. J. Forato coolly slotted it home for a 1 - 0 lead. After 35 minutes, K. Glineur sprinted between the opposing defenders and squared the ball, but the keeper deflected J. Nowaliński's shot. After 38 minutes Occitanie's B. Garnier limped slightly after a late challenge, but he was able to continue. It was 1 - 0 at the break. Possession in this half belonged to Banquise, who controlled the ball 70 percent of the time.

D. Étcheberry could have increased the lead after 47 minutes, but his shot hit the post after a nice combination in the middle of the park. Occitanie almost scored after a swift counterattack 51 minutes into the game, but A. Lemaire put the shot from the left flank just outside the goal. After 52 minutes, there was a bit of a mixup on the field as Occitanie found themselves out of position and their organisation level dropped to inadequate. The cannonball from 35 metres by J. Nowaliński of Banquise was an impressive sight, but didn't make it into the net. Banquise managed to extend their lead to 2 - 0 when J. Nowaliński cut in neatly from the left side and struck a fine shot past the away team's goalkeeper. Banquise claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 74 percent.

Banquise's best player was U. Pati. On the other hand, T. Varela's play was disheartening. Occitanie's top performer was clearly Á. Nagy. B. Garnier was a disappointment, however. The match ends 2 - 0.