Bandits 1 - 9 Masters (387126781)

12000 punters turned up at BBB Arena, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came. Patrick Kehrli was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Kevin von Freyberg and Sune Kornum. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Bandits. Lineup: Latif - bin Hj Daud, 维仲 (Weizhong), bin Mohd Noh - Kian Yi, bin Hj Haszemi, Tze Kok, bin Hj Raimi, bin Rosmin - Meng De, Khairul Anwar.

Masters tactics involved an interesting 2-5-3 combination. Starters: Odemira - Škafar, Aquino - Yngvesson, Niidu, Doran, Ulloa Castro, Pīlēns - Mendes, Kanitkar, bin Suparman.

Masters seemed to prefer attacking in the middle. A well placed corner kick from M. bin Suparman was followed by O. Yngvesson's hard but accurate header. The well executed routine resulted in a goal for Masters, the score now 0 - 1. After 22 minutes, a mistake by the home side's left defence allowed M. bin Suparman to get through. He outclassed the home side's keeper, adding another goal for the visitors. 0 - 2. Masters's P. Kanitkar made it through the home team's defence on the right hand side 26 minutes into the match. After rounding the keeper, he only had to place the ball in the unguarded goal when a defender slid in and cleared the ball off the line. After 28 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for C. Mendes who increased Masters's lead to 0 - 3. The players of Masters now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. Some fine movement on the left led to a Masters goal after 33 minutes, making it 0 - 4. M. bin Suparman was noted down as the scorer. Masters had a good opportunity to attack on the wing, but remembered their instructions to go for middle attacks. After 38 minutes, an incisive pass through the middle gave P. Kanitkar a chance to increase the lead for Masters, and he did not disappoint. The score was then 0 - 5. Bandits's fans were urging them forward as they tried to get back into the game, and their vocal support was rewarded 39 minutes into the match as Y. Khairul Anwar ran onto a beautiful ball played through the visitors' defence and slotted it past the keeper to reduce the deficit. 1 - 5. Halftime score was 1 - 5. Masters enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 75 percent of possession.

A penalty was awarded after 49 minutes, and M. bin Suparman made the most of his chance to put Masters up by another goal. 1 - 6 for the visitors. That was his third goal of the match - a hat trick for M. bin Suparman. The Masters players could smell victory in the air. R. Aquino wasn't in a hurry to leave the field as he was substituted for Z. Ju Ok after 55 minutes. Content with how the game was proceeding, the Masters coach let D. Saban replace Ā. Pīlēns after 60 minutes. Z. Ju Ok became the new Masters captain. Masters players heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their wing attacks to the middle instead. After 63 minutes, Masters's V. Ulloa Castro burst through the central defence and let loose a cannonball of a shot, scoring for 1 - 7. Masters increased their lead after 74 minutes when M. bin Suparman broke through on the right, upping the score to 1 - 8, much to the home crowd's dismay. The visitors' O. Yngvesson took advantage of a misunderstanding between the home side's goalie and centre backs 76 minutes into the match. 1 - 9 for Masters. T. Doran wanted to play on, but the Masters coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 80 minutes into the game by D. Nordskov. Possession in this half belonged to Masters, who controlled the ball 81 percent of the time.

Bandits's best player was S. Tze Kok. On the other hand, H. bin Rosmin's play was disheartening. Most important Masters player was C. Mendes. F. Odemira on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 1 - 9.