rct 4 - 1 MS3 (385961144)

It was an exceptionally sunny day for the crowd of 31056 that came out to Stade Mayol. Arthur Conrad was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Giovanni De Angelis and Nikodem Stachowiak. rct had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Bohquist - Bourdel, Mladenović, De La Fuente - Dabrišius, Barthélémy, Tosarelli, Tomasulo, Vrignon - Prévoteau, Hultskär.

MS3 tactics involved an interesting 4-3-3 combination. The following players had been chosen: Schubernigg - Tudor, Díaz, Guidinger, Edibe - Ferrara, Fort Aroca, De Carolis - Duchale, Wandinger, Bardo.

rct were mostly trying to use their skill at attacking on the flanks. D. Fort Aroca hit the corner kick straight to the keeper, but it was mishandled, giving MS3's N. Wandinger an easy chance to knock it in for 0 - 1. After 5 minutes of play, Q. Tomasulo evened things up for rct with an impressive goal coming up the middle. 1 - 1. rct created a good opportunity to score 9 minutes into the match when M. Bourdel's hooked ball from the left created a scuffle in front of the goal, and the visitors' defenders had a hard time clearing the ball. The home side put themselves ahead 2 - 1 after 17 minutes courtesy of a breakthrough from G. Prévoteau, who scored with a stunning volley following a cross from the right wing. It was obvious that rct had instructions to attack on the wings instead of in the middle. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave S. Barthélémy from rct a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 24 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! 28 minutes in, rct's M. Bourdel received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. A loud groan was heard from the fans of MS3, as G. Bardo left the pitch in too much pain to finish the match. S. Faye took his place on the field. Halftime score was 2 - 1. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by rct, with 70 percent of the ball.

Almost all the way down to the corner flag, rct's D. Vrignon somehow managed to get a perfect pass into the middle, impossible to miss for G. Prévoteau, who struck for 3 - 1. Confident in their lead, rct's players relaxed and focused more on defending the lead than increasing it. MS3's D. Fort Aroca got himself booked for a foul. G. Prévoteau should probably have put his team up another goal after 61 minutes, but some great goalkeeping by I. Schubernigg kept the visitors in the game. rct put themselves up 4 - 1 when S. Barthélémy broke through on the right, leaving the entire defence trailing in his wake. Although the whole team were struggling to impress, MS3's D. Fort Aroca was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 75 minutes. B. Tzvetkov was given a chance to change things around. As the captain was no longer on the pitch, A. Ferrara took over the role of being the MS3 captain. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, G. Tudor got himself booked. The manager of MS3 was not happy. rct's Q. Tomasulo was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 78 minutes. rct enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 69 percent of possession.

rct's top performer was clearly K. Hultskär. R. De La Fuente was a disappointment, however. Most important MS3 player was N. Wandinger. S. Faye turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 4 - 1.