Rovers 3 - 0 AFC Stars (390051247)

31948 punters turned up at The Rovers Den, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came. Robin Gardet was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Anselme Chollet and Lev Šustaršič. Rovers had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Barradas - Baranskiy, Browne, Filipova - Moore, Sharp, Curran, Parry, Buscher - Gortari, Avila.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for AFC Stars. Lineup: Ortiz - Martin, Shoppe, Madunický - Straeussl, Enfield, Mulvey, Gazier, Pacek - Kasala, Saltiris.

AFC Stars were mostly trying to use their skill at attacking on the flanks. I. Straeussl's fine footwork caused nothing but headaches for V. Baranskiy. The keeper wasn't fooled however, and confidently scooped up the ball. Rovers's M. Gortari scored to make the score 1 - 0 after 12 minutes by shooting accurately and hard from a long distance, leaving the opponent keeper no other option than to pick the ball out of the net. E. Avila increased the lead for Rovers to 2 - 0, getting a head onto a hooked ball from the right. The ball looked to have taken a deflection on the way in, but he's claiming it! E. Avila was ever so close to scoring after an excellent corner was beautifully flicked on by W. Browne, but the ball bounced off the post to safety. With 36 minutes played, Rovers's D. Sharp almost extended the lead, but his shot from the left glanced off the top of the bar to fall behind the net. Coming from the right, M. Gortari almost managed to score another goal for Rovers, but his header was tipped over the bar by the visitors' keeper. It was 2 - 0 at the break. Rovers had most of the ball, with 59 percent of possession.

Attacking on the wings was the choice for AFC Stars, and they were successfully passing the ball from the middle to the wings to attack. AFC Stars's right side looked dangerous after 60 minutes, as P. Gazier broke through. O. Barradas continued to stifle them, however, as he made the save look easy. AFC Stars had a fair chance to reply after 67 minutes due to some fine moves down the left, but in the end R. Enfield was slow to keep up with the play and was unable to make it into the penalty box to apply a finish. AFC Stars will have to do without J. Ortiz for a time, due to a bad foot injury at the 68 minute mark. He was substituted by A. Dalglish. After 76 minutes, M. Gortari sent the corner kick right to V. Baranskiy who headed it sharply past the keeper. 3 - 0! The Rovers coach was visibly pleased with the score so far, but still ordered a few tactical changes 76 minutes into the game. After a short break after 76 minutes, Rovers seemed to change their tactical approach a bit. Content with how the game was proceeding, the Rovers coach let A. Bex replace E. Avila after 76 minutes. The players of Rovers now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. W. Browne unleashed a swerving effort from the right that the visitors' keeper did well to tip wide. Possession in this half belonged to Rovers, who controlled the ball 61 percent of the time.

Most important Rovers player was P. Parry. M. Gortari turned in a dismal performance, however. AFC Stars's best player was T. Saltiris. A. Dalglish on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 3 - 0.