Australia 1 - 8 Smitlick (386982981)

Dark skies made the crowd of 7000 at South Australia Bowl a little nervous, but the rain held off. Frank de Haan was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Zygfryd Kajtowski and Freek van Kolck. Australia had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. Starters: Martin - Thatcher, Alcock, Umaga, Murray - Taylor, Caro, Anderson, Greco - Evans, Gunn.

Smitlick tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players took the field: Leech - Landsbergen, Hilders, de Oliveira - Eskerod, Moncanut, Ocaña, Brion, Mendes - Adema, van Gijzel.

Some good play on the left wing created an opportunity for the visitors 17 minutes into the match, and A. Mendes wasn't about to let it go by. He got past the defenders and fired a shot that the keeper just missed. 0 - 1 for the visitors. G. Anderson sailed high above the opponents as he headed in a corner kick from M. Thatcher after 18 minutes of play, making the score 1 - 1. H. Adema delivered a good free kick from an excellent position 24 minutes into the game, but luck wasn't on Smitlick's side this time and the ball went wide. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave G. Anderson from Australia a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 25 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! With 29 minutes played, F. Taylor of Australia fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. Smitlick's goal to make the score 1 - 2 came via a questionable penalty, but H. Adema struck it home without a second thought. After 34 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for H. Adema who increased Smitlick's lead to 1 - 3. The teams went for the halftime break at 1 - 3. Smitlick had most of the ball, with 75 percent of possession.

With 57 minutes played, Smitlick put themselves up 1 - 4 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. The scorer was M. Hilders. The players of Smitlick now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. An amazing free kick flew past the home keeper 65 minutes into the match, putting Smitlick ahead 1 - 5. H. Adema was the scorer. At that, H. Adema was noted down for a hat trick! The visitors added to their lead 68 minutes into the game, after a sensational penalty kick by Smitlick's H. Adema slid just past the home keeper. 1 - 6. After 79 minutes, Smitlick's H. Landsbergen burst through the central defence and let loose a cannonball of a shot, scoring for 1 - 7. H. Adema of Smitlick took advantage of a mistake on the home side's right after 81 minutes which increased the away team's lead to 1 - 8. Possession in this half belonged to Smitlick, who controlled the ball 75 percent of the time.

Most important Australia player was D. Gunn. E. Martin turned in a dismal performance, however. H. Adema performed admirably for Smitlick. A. Mendes was a disappointment, however. The match ends 1 - 8.