Sambourne 7 - 0 troubled (390051356)

The weather was pretty good, and a crowd of 37413 had shown up at Sambourne Sorcerers Arena for the match. Ferry de With was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Branko Podobnik and Donald Mejer. Sambourne started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. They fielded: Daish - Kleiber, bin Salleh, Prelić - Depka, Senzanonna, Glowik, Bishop, Tikkanen - Lhavga, D'Annunzio.

troubled had chosen a strategic 4-3-3 formation. Starters: Huff - Stone, Williams, Carswell, Ward - Buckley, Tyas, Spurr - Brickell, Bullie, Atkins.

Today, Sambourne's strategy involved concentrating on the flanks for their attacks. troubled were relying on their ability to counter-attack. After 5 minutes, the defensive line of troubled created a counterattack through the middle that gave F. Bullie a good look at the goal, but his shot glanced harmlessly off the crossbar. After 6 minutes, B. Lhavga came in from the right, feinted, then sped past the off-balance defender to make the score 1 - 0, giving Sambourne the lead. Attacking on the wings was the choice for Sambourne, and they were successfully passing the ball from the middle to the wings to attack. With 7 minutes played, G. D'Annunzio could have brought this one home for Sambourne as he charged up on the left, but his hooked ball went just a bit too high. troubled's C. Buckley got himself booked for a foul. Things were going to get worse for the visitors. B. Lhavga squirmed through their central defence after 33 minutes, increasing the lead to 2 - 0. Confident in their lead, Sambourne's players relaxed and focused more on defending the lead than increasing it. 2 - 0 was the score after the first half. Sambourne claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 77 percent.

A great save by keeper J. Huff after 52 minutes kept the visitors in the game after D. Senzanonna struck from the left with a real cannonball. Sambourne's G. D'Annunzio increased the lead to 3 - 0, after he saw his shot go between the legs of the advancing goalkeeper following some good play down the right wing after 59 minutes. R. Depka of Sambourne was booked for kicking the ball away after the whistle. Sambourne put themselves up 4 - 0 when M. Kleiber broke through on the right, leaving the entire defence trailing in his wake. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, I. Ward got himself booked. The manager of troubled was not happy. troubled's B. Williams startled M. Spurr with an unexpected pass. Unfortunately, the receiver was too stunned by the play to convert the perfect setup into a goal. It was obvious that Sambourne had instructions to attack on the wings instead of in the middle. G. D'Annunzio increased the lead for Sambourne to 5 - 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! R. Depka of Sambourne was able to make an impressive rush past the sluggish I. Ward, which resulted in a goal making the score 6 - 0. Having been awarded a free kick in an awkward position after 87 minutes, Sambourne did not go for a shot but instead fired the ball hard into the 6 yard box. After a brief tussle with his marker, R. Depka was able to power the ball past the keeper to make the score 7 - 0. Sambourne enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 82 percent of possession.

Sambourne's top performer was clearly B. Lhavga. D. Senzanonna on the other hand, had a terrible day. C. Atkins performed admirably for troubled. I. Ward was a disappointment, however. The match ends 7 - 0.