Makarays 5 - 3 VM FC (388487135)

34929 spectators arrived at Khanyi island, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Kent Chapman was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Sergio Derieux and Sven Sjölin. Fans of both teams had been eagerly awaiting this Central derby and were doing their best to outshout their opponents. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Makarays. The following players had been chosen: Monari - Cruypelinck, Velunza, Quehenberger - Bran, Bochmann, Keisinger, Zobel, Seery - Listerud, Pozzan.

VM FC tactics involved an interesting 2-5-3 combination. They fielded: Kaleel - Gruszewski, Pika - Lusweti, Meşale, Ochiang, Paqarizi, Letipilia - Mansoor, Matiba, Zerres.

Pressing was the tactic of the day for Makarays. VM FC mostly relied on their long range shooting ability. The visiting E. Paqarizi was booed thoroughly by the home crowd 19 minutes into the game, after he broke through the middle and scored, resulting in the visitors taking the lead. 0 - 1 was the score. The visitors' K. Lusweti took advantage of a misunderstanding between the home side's goalie and centre backs 22 minutes into the match. 0 - 2 for VM FC. Confident in their lead, VM FC's players relaxed and focused more on defending the lead than increasing it. I. Velunza of Makarays was booked for kicking the ball away after the whistle. With the scoreboard showing that 28 minutes had been played, VM FC nearly put themselves up another goal after T. Zerres came through on the left. Fortunately for the home crowd, the keeper made the save. It took several tries, but Makarays managed to break through on the left after 31 minutes, getting the ball to C. Pozzan who easily reduced the lead to make the score 1 - 2. With the crowd on their feet chanting wildly, some great moves down the right hand side after 32 minutes gave Makarays a wonderful opportunity to level the score, and H. Listerud stepped up to the challenge. 2 - 2 38 minutes into the game, J. Matiba was a hair's breadth away from giving VM FC the lead with a shot from over on the left. A prompt block by E. Monari saved the home team that time. It was 2 - 2 at the break. VM FC enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 60 percent of possession.

With 71 minutes played, the excellent ball from the wing by Makarays's P. Bran reached H. Listerud's head, and he is not one to miss such an opportunity - 3 - 2. 75 minutes into the game VM FC's A. Mansoor found a gap in the home side's central defence and scored with a fabulous shot, making it 3 - 3. Down the middle came E. Paqarizi, making a fantastic play that nearly had VM FC take the lead after 76 minutes, but E. Monari preserved the tie. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave O. Keisinger from Makarays a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 78 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! D. Bochmann would have preferred to play on, but his coach decided otherwise. M. Jeannin entered the game for Makarays as the match clock showed 80 minutes. VM FC were close to getting a nice long shot opportunity after 83 minutes, but the intense pressure from the defenders made the final pass inaccurate and the opportunity disappeared into thin air. 85 minutes into the game, Makarays wanted to bring some new energy to their game. C. Pozzan gave J. van Parijs a quick hug as he left the field. 85 minutes into the match and the home team took a 4 - 3 lead after breaking through on the left. The scorer for Makarays was P. Bran. A speedy charge from the left side of the field increased the lead of Makarays to 5 - 3 as M. Jeannin finished it off competently, firing in from an acute angle. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by VM FC, with 54 percent of the ball.

The most dominating Makarays player was without a doubt H. Listerud. I. Cruypelinck was a disappointment, however. VM FC's top performer was clearly T. Zerres. J. Matiba on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 5 - 3.