Druids 0 - 9 United (390051293)

Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 22522 to The Henge. Juan José Tamayo was the appointed referee. Druids tactics involved an interesting 2-5-2 combination. The following players took the field: Feerey - Baldwin, Cockayne - Shariff, Langer, Shelley, Flower-Ellis, van der Garde - Venkatesh, Patil.

United decided to use a 2-5-3 set up. Starters: Oswyn - Sârbu, Coninckx - Pezzuto, Dowling, Stoccoro, Wels, Ebensperger - Bonjean, Allen, Rickard.

0 - 1 was the score with 2 minutes played, after D. Pezzuto cut through the central defence and chipped home a goal for United. Some fine movement on the left led to a United goal after 10 minutes, making it 0 - 2. E. Stoccoro was noted down as the scorer. 28 minutes into the game, Druids had difficulty finding their positions and their organisation dropped to inadequate. After 34 minutes, United sent a free kick in high over the penalty box. In what looked like a well-rehearsed move, the ball was headed backwards and reached G. Rickard, who had plenty of space to place a well aimed shot - 0 - 3. After 37 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for G. Rickard who increased United's lead to 0 - 4. After 37 minutes, T. Coninckx sent the corner kick right to J. Wels who headed it sharply past the keeper. 0 - 5! With 38 minutes played, United put themselves up 0 - 6 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. The scorer was G. Rickard. That made three goals for G. Rickard and he was marked down for the hat trick. The players of United now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. 40 minutes into the game, Druids seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion and they fell to a poor level of organisation. 0 - 6 was the score after the first half. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by United, with 74 percent of the ball.

A review of the gameplan helped Druids get back to a passable organisation when the referee blew his whistle again. M. Bonjean increased the visitors' lead by putting a volley away after a pass from the right. 0 - 7. After 57 minutes, United's W. Allen burst through the central defence and let loose a cannonball of a shot, scoring for 0 - 8. J. Wels of United received a yellow card after 60 minutes for unsportsmanlike behaviour. After 70 minutes United's E. Stoccoro contracted a slight foot injury, but didn't want to leave the game. After 71 minutes, there was a bit of a mixup on the field as Druids found themselves out of position and their organisation level dropped to inadequate. A defender managed to keep the ball from crossing the goal-line after a curling shot coming in from the right from W. Allen after 75 minutes, and prevented United from going up another goal. The home crowd cheered when, after 81 minutes, E. Stoccoro's charge up the middle resulted in the keeper making one of his best saves of the day. 85 minutes into the game, Druids seemed a little tentative in their play as their organization fell to weak. The visitors' T. Coninckx took advantage of a misunderstanding between the home side's goalie and centre backs 86 minutes into the match. 0 - 9 for United. Possession in this half belonged to United, who controlled the ball 76 percent of the time.

Most important Druids player was S. Shariff. On the other hand, J. Cockayne's play was disheartening. The most dominating United player was without a doubt J. Wels. W. Allen on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 0 - 9.