Blue 4 - 0 Whipping (386157013)

It was an exceptionally sunny day for the crowd of 68301 that came out to Fox Park. José Posada was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Shavit Buaron and Ragner Bojsen. Blue had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players took the field: Anacleto - Carayon, Grigore, 育斌 (Yubin) - Jeziorowski, Vesterhult, Over, Wells, Reinheim - Tillgård, Gopal Reddy.

Whipping started off with a 4-5-1 lineup. They fielded: Jacobsen - Rodríguez Drago, Waldron, Nordkvist, Richards - Mairhofer, Atkins, McParland, Edenbratt, Pritchard - Vilk.

The strategy for Whipping was to use their ability to press. The home crowd breathed a collective sigh of relief when H. Pritchard was unable to put the ball in the net after his show of skill down the left 5 minutes into the match. He was seen beating the pitch in frustration at missing such a good chance to give his team the lead! With 13 minutes played, the home side managed to get a 1 - 0 lead as C. Grigore flipped the ball in after a cross from the right. Blue's C. Grigore got himself booked for a foul. The Whipping coach was desperate to reverse his team's fortunes in the game, and ordered his team to change strategy. Whipping's ability to press all over the field frequently paid dividends. Proving his experience, C. Gopal Reddy scored 2 - 0 for Blue after putting some pressure on the opposing defence at a critical moment. Confident in their lead, Blue's players relaxed and focused more on defending the lead than increasing it. R. Jacobsen was caught napping as B. Wells lifted a ball over him following a free kick, but the ball hit the bar, rebounding into the keeper's arms. At this time in the match, Whipping were using their skill at pressing to successfully stifle the game. It was 2 - 0 at the break. Possession in this half belonged to Blue, who controlled the ball 62 percent of the time.

The pressing tactics used by Whipping were successful as the ball remained close to the half way line at all times. The bench was restless, and with 60 minutes passed Whipping's coach gave M. Halimi the opportunity the player had been hoping for. J. Waldron reluctantly left the field. Unhappy with the result so far in the game, the Whipping manager used a brief break in play after 60 minutes to give the players new directives. Although the whole team were struggling to impress, Whipping's K. Edenbratt was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 60 minutes. R. Ward was given a chance to change things around. With things not going too well on the field, the Whipping coach made the decision to swap the positions of R. Ward and A. Mairhofer with 60 minutes played. Whipping pressed their opponents, causing the game to be a bit of a stalemate at times. The intense heat forced M. Halimi into making some errors because he couldn't seem to keep up with the others. Things were deteriorating for the away team as Blue scored another to make it 3 - 0 after a left side attack resulted in a goal for C. Grigore after 76 minutes. The score became 4 - 0 at 78 minutes into the game, when Blue were given a penalty which B. Wells blasted straight down the middle giving the keeper no chance! A. Mairhofer nearly reduced the lead 82 minutes into the game, but a splendid one-handed save by M. Anacleto prevented the attempt coming in from the right flank from hitting the back of the net. Blue's L. Over saw his fine effort strike the top of the bar following some good work up the middle by his teammates after 84 minutes. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Blue, with 63 percent of the ball.

O. Tillgård performed admirably for Blue. B. Wells was a disappointment, however. Whipping's top performer was clearly M. Halimi. R. Jacobsen on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 4 - 0.