P.T.H. 5 - 1 Kestrel (386242006)

The 66023 spectators at P.T.H. Arena were in for an afternoon of sunshine. Roland Garbin was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Oliver Laurits and Matias Mäkelä. P.T.H. tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Lineup: Landim - Nobre, Palminha, Nobre - Tovim, Falacha, Faia, Colaço, Sapata - Cordeiro, Lina.

A 2-5-3 alignment was the formation of choice for Kestrel. Starters: Moreira - Lamelas, Bernardo - Lepojević, Canhão, Costa, Legzda-Legzdiņš, Komiszár - Menau, Belchior, Kiukkonen.

After 8 minutes of play, B. Nobre gave the home team a 1 - 0 lead after an attack coming in from the right. After 23 minutes, S. Colaço put P.T.H. ahead 2 - 0 when he rose to head in a cross from the right wing. The referee showed Kestrel's G. Lamelas the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. M. Faia increased the lead for P.T.H. to 3 - 0, getting a head onto a hooked ball from the right. The ball looked to have taken a deflection on the way in, but he's claiming it! After 33 minutes, G. Lamelas sent the corner kick right to A. Bernardo who headed it sharply past the keeper. 3 - 1! Halftime score was 3 - 1. Possession in this half belonged to P.T.H., who controlled the ball 55 percent of the time.

Unhappy with the result so far in the game, the Kestrel manager used a brief break in play after 60 minutes to give the players new directives. P.T.H. put themselves up 4 - 1 when F. Sapata broke through on the right, leaving the entire defence trailing in his wake. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave R. Costa from Kestrel a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 75 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! L. Kiukkonen didn't pace himself at all, and after a series of daring offensive runs he was too tired to help out in the defensive play. A magnificent combination in the middle resulted in P.T.H.'s T. Nobre increasing the lead to 5 - 1. By now, the players in P.T.H. felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. After 81 minutes, a couple of quick and successful challenges followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area by M. Faia might have resulted in another goal for P.T.H.. However, J. Moreira made a spectacular save. With 82 minutes played, R. Costa had a fantastic opportunity to reply but his shot flew harmlessly into the side-netting of the goal. P.T.H. enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 58 percent of possession.

C. Cordeiro performed admirably for P.T.H.. F. Sapata turned in a dismal performance, however. Most important Kestrel player was B. Menau. J. Moreira on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 5 - 1.