It had rained all day, but 4833 hardy fans still made it out to
Quahog Arena.
Håkan Flinkquist was the appointed referee with assistance provided by
Jerzy Sobanski and
Jérémie Hecq.
Stewies tactics involved an interesting 4-5-1 combination.
The following players had been chosen: Charpentier - Messana, Torney, Borgraeve, Kibwadu - Mayumpa, Della malva, Boudt, Delaive, Bouchier - Goris.
GerminalEkeren decided to use a 4-4-2 set up.
They fielded: Vandenbulcke - Annet, Theetaert, Schmitz, Laeremans - Kulinowski, Fassin, Van de Kerckhoven, Paternostre - Jadot, Henrard.
Some things can only be learned through experience, and
C. Boudt should take his lesson to heart after nearly gifting GerminalEkeren a goal with 10 minutes of the match played.
After 21 minutes of play,
W. Torney gave the home team a 1 - 0 lead after an attack coming in from the right.
After 32 minutes, the away team failed to deal with a good exchange of passes on the right, and
J. Mayumpa gave the Stewies supporters even more to cheer about when he increased the lead to 2 - 0.
Given a free kick close to the byline, Stewies tried a move that loyal fans may recognise from training. A pass to the side pulled the defence out of position which let
F. Goris slip through on goal. He didn't have to break his stride, and slipped the ball past the keeper to make it 3 - 0, 35 minutes into the game.
Good work by the Stewies defensive line after 37 minutes produced a good counterattack chance, which cut elegantly down the middle of the pitch and found
F. Goris alone in front of the goal, but his shot whistled just wide.
Cheers filled the stadium as
M. Della malva broke through the visitors' central defence to put away the ball to increase the lead to 4 - 0 to Stewies.
It was 4 - 0 at the break.
Stewies enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 73 percent of possession.
Stewies's
O. Bouchier increased the lead to 5 - 0, after he saw his shot go between the legs of the advancing goalkeeper following some good play down the right wing after 52 minutes.
By now, the players in Stewies felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward.
GerminalEkeren's
L. Schmitz was shown a yellow card after 65 minutes for slicing down an opponent.
After 73 minutes,
Z. Kibwadu put Stewies ahead 6 - 0 when he rose to head in a cross from the right wing.
Stewies solidified their lead at the 78 minute mark, as
Z. Kibwadu dribbled the ball through the opposing central defence and scored to make it 7 - 0.
Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Stewies, with 75 percent of the ball.
Stewies's top performer was clearly
J. Borgraeve.
However,
J. Charpentier made a disastrous appearance.
GerminalEkeren's best player was
P. Van de Kerckhoven.
E. Vandenbulcke was a disappointment, however.
The match ends 7 - 0.