Toepoke 3 - 3 Auckland (390051260)

The crowd of 37665 turning up at The Knölstålodrome today were greeted with some nasty showers of rain. Christoffer Møller was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Abel Cardó and Vladimir Ivanyuk. Toepoke decided to use a 4-4-2 set up. Starters: Åhnhall - Villahoz, Bantí, Werkhoven, Blankenhagen - Reksten, Diržinskas, Salis, Mickausch - Adolescente, Ventura Rodríguez.

A 2-5-3 alignment was the formation of choice for Auckland. Lineup: Kankaanniemi - Radcliffe, Snape - Milner, Homer, Eames, St John, Spendlove - Wick, Richards, Barker Jones.

The corner kick from S. Blankenhagen was powerfully met by the head of J. Reksten to make the score 1 - 0. The visitors didn't give in and, after 12 minutes, O. Milner got through the home side's central line of defence, rolling in the equaliser to make it 1 - 1. P. Adolescente of Toepoke was booked for kicking the ball away after the whistle. Some quick footwork on the left side of the field 31 minutes into the match left Auckland's R. Barker Jones completely free to score. 1 - 2 for the visitors. Due to some great work on the right wing Toepoke's P. Adolescente was able to even the score after 32 minutes to make the score 2 - 2. Some great play up the middle by Toepoke led to a chance for J. Bantí to score after 37 minutes, but the shot hit the crossbar. This was a good period for the visitors, with several opportunities to take the lead, particularly when D. Richards slipped through the defence on the right to come up alone against O. Åhnhall, but the home side's keeper showed his lightning reflexes. 2 - 2 was the score after the first half. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Toepoke, with 55 percent of the ball.

The most controversial moment of the game was likely the penalty given after 62 minutes. Auckland's R. Radcliffe kept his concentration, despite the upset crowd, and calmly put the ball past the keeper to make the score 2 - 3. 77 minutes in, and Toepoke were able to score the equalising goal to make it 3 - 3 when A. Diržinskas picked up a pass coming in from the right and chipped it past the away team's keeper. Toepoke's J. Reksten had to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines, after twisting his ankle with 84 minutes having been played. F. Vaquero was the replacement. Possession of the ball saw an equal split between the teams during the forty-five minutes.

A. Diržinskas performed admirably for Toepoke. However, F. Vaquero made a disastrous appearance. Auckland's top performer was clearly M. Spendlove. D. Richards on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 3 - 3.