Dragon 0 - 10 Menai (386983831)

It was an exceptionally sunny day for the crowd of 12000 that came out to Dragon Woo Arena. Harald Ritler was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Stefan Stensson and Jurgen Nap. Dragon had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. The following players took the field: Graham - Hamburger, Stevens, Muspratt, Quimby - Cottee, Boath, Rogers, Saddington - Nurrish, Baugh.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Menai. Lineup: Dellac - Gilchrist, Ameller, Schulp - Tzohar, Ardill, Kielian, Pumarino, Dutta - Sansone, Gravano.

It was an obvious ambition of Menai to use their ability at attacking on the flanks. J. Kielian had a good try after 2 minutes, coming in on a fine move from the left, but the ball went wide. G. Gravano of Menai was able to make an impressive rush past the sluggish K. Muspratt, which resulted in a goal making the score 0 - 1. Menai were determined to attack on the wing and their central attempts were constantly abandoned in favour of the wings. Menai increased their lead after 31 minutes when S. Dutta broke through on the right, upping the score to 0 - 2, much to the home crowd's dismay. With 32 minutes played, Menai's well-worked indirect free kick caused havoc in the penalty area, and when the ball eventually fell to J. Kielian he gleefully slotted the ball home to make it 0 - 3. Some fine movement on the left led to a Menai goal after 34 minutes, making it 0 - 4. J. Schulp was noted down as the scorer. After 37 minutes, there was a bit of a mixup on the field as Menai found themselves out of position and their organisation level dropped to inadequate. The teams went for the halftime break at 0 - 4. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Menai, with 85 percent of the ball.

The coach gave his players an extra tactical briefing during the break, and after that Menai had solid organisation. O. Sansone received a delicate pass through the home side's central defence after 58 minutes, and chipped it past the flailing keeper to score making it 0 - 5. The Menai fans went wild, whilst the home fans started to think about leaving early. In the lead, Menai adjusted their style of play with 70 minutes gone. The Menai coach was visibly pleased with the score so far, but still ordered a few tactical changes 75 minutes into the game. In an effort to secure the lead, Menai changed their tactic after 75 minutes. The visitors' S. Dutta took advantage of a misunderstanding between the home side's goalie and centre backs 80 minutes into the match. 0 - 6 for Menai. The players of Menai now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. The fierce heat made it important to save breath, and after a few swift runs S. Dutta found it hard to get back into position. With 87 minutes played, a quick exchange of passes on the left wing freed R. Ardill of Menai to slip through the defence and score another goal for the visitors. That made the score 0 - 7. R. Gilchrist was the first to reach the corner kick, but his header was blocked by the keeper. However, Menai's J. Kielian managed to get hold of the rebound and tucked the ball into the empty net. 0 - 8 The home crowd was not impressed when F. Ameller came in from the right, shooting hard to score after 89 minutes. Menai were now up 0 - 9. After the ball was lifted in from the left, G. Gravano was on his own in the home side's penalty area and should have scored after 89 minutes, but missed, probably due to lack of concentration. Menai had to make a substitution after 89 minutes. J. Kielian limped off the field and was replaced by N. Mehler. 89 minutes into the game, Menai seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion and they fell to a passable level of organisation. After 89 minutes, an incisive pass through the middle gave G. Gravano a chance to increase the lead for Menai, and he did not disappoint. The score was then 0 - 10. Menai had most of the ball, with 84 percent of possession.

Dragon's best player was J. Nurrish. On the other hand, F. Graham's play was disheartening. Most important Menai player was O. Sansone. However, N. Mehler made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 0 - 10.