Wall 6 - 0 Aussies (386979804)

The crowd of 20652 turning up at Royal Arena today were greeted with some nasty showers of rain. Rudolf Zaruba was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Leo Koskelainen and Safet Kajganic. Wall tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players took the field: Anthony - Vale, Tatafu, Hilfinger - Wilkinson, Grünebaum, Pomatta, Johnstone, Pertola - Raimundo, Ghiuş.

A 4-4-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Aussies. The following players had been chosen: Allen - Macrides, Bale, Chappel, Chapman - Siemon, Morgan, Rathod, Schnieder - Millard, Bray.

They were singing the praises of N. Vale 10 minutes into the match after his speculative chip from the middle of the penalty box found its way over the visitors' keeper to make the score 1 - 0 to Wall. A. Chappel, who often relies on his speed, had a rotten day on the drenched grass. A magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Wall's J. Raimundo increasing the lead to 2 - 0. At this point, it was obvious that the players of Wall lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. T. Pertola of Wall was booked for kicking the ball away after the whistle. Wall's T. Pertola swung in a good chance from the left, but the visitors' defence were able to clear the ball. Wall were given a gift! The ref dubiously awarded them a penalty 39 minutes into the match, which was neatly put away by J. Raimundo. 3 - 0 for the home side. 3 - 0 was the score after the first half. Possession in this half belonged to Wall, who controlled the ball 76 percent of the time.

Cheers filled the stadium as N. Ghiuş broke through the visitors' central defence to put away the ball to increase the lead to 4 - 0 to Wall. The Wall free kick 67 minutes into the match seemed wasted, as the shot was both short and off target. But was this actually a plan? The ball landed at the feet of N. Ghiuş, who was completely unmarked in the box. That's 5 - 0! A speedy charge from the left side of the field increased the lead of Wall to 6 - 0 as N. Ghiuş finished it off competently, firing in from an acute angle. That made three goals for N. Ghiuş and he was marked down for the hat trick. A great save by keeper D. Allen after 71 minutes kept the visitors in the game after D. Wilkinson struck from the left with a real cannonball. J. Bray was uncomfortable with the soggy pitch as he couldn't move the ball around with his usual grace. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Wall, with 79 percent of the ball.

B. Pomatta performed admirably for Wall. On the other hand, G. Anthony's play was disheartening. The most dominating Aussies player was without a doubt R. Macrides. D. Allen was a disappointment, however. The match ends 6 - 0.