Exiles 2 - 3 Ellesmere (390051206)

The weather was pretty good, and a crowd of 65000 had shown up at The Panoptichron for the match. Paul Kelly was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Aage Blomgreen and Boris Leuschner. A 5-4-1 alignment was the formation of choice for Exiles. They fielded: Vallance - Horder, Falkvist, Goodman, Squier, Masini - Saddington, Russell, Lynch, Nafees - Barral.

Ellesmere decided to use a 4-4-2 set up. Starters: Frade - McPartlin, Falcato, Di Pinto, Howe - 有耀 (Youyao), Echebeste, Battisti, Tulath - Brambilla, Kožený.

Using their counter-attacking abilities was the strategy of choice for Exiles. Ellesmere were relying on their ability to counter-attack. Ellesmere's counterattacks were lethal to the opposing defence, allowing W. Howe to score easily from the right flank for 0 - 1. The corner kick from S. Nafees was powerfully met by the head of L. Horder to make the score 1 - 1. Ellesmere took the lead after 31 minutes making the score 1 - 2. R. Kožený placed the ball out of reach for the home side's keeper after a fine move, coming in from the left. After 33 minutes, J. Barral made a dash down the middle past the away team's defenders to score the goal that made it 2 - 2. The teams went for the halftime break at 2 - 2. Exiles claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 53 percent.

After a fine move down the middle E. Saddington nearly gave the home side a goal after 68 minutes. However the finishing shot went just wide. After 69 minutes, the defensive line of Ellesmere created a counterattack through the middle that gave K. Tulath a good look at the goal, but his shot glanced harmlessly off the crossbar. Ellesmere's M. Brambilla managed to lose the defenders as he advanced down the right wing and scored, putting the visitors ahead after 70 minutes. 2 - 3. Ellesmere almost scored after a counterattack 81 minutes into the match, but W. Howe took a shot from the left that landed harmlessly in the side of the net. G. Russell was just a finger's breadth away from an equaliser for Exiles with a strike from the left, but D. Frade managed to ward the shot off for a corner. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Exiles, with 52 percent of the ball.

Exiles's top performer was clearly J. Barral. H. Falkvist on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Ellesmere player was without a doubt R. Kožený. D. Frade was a disappointment, however. The match ends 2 - 3.