Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 32841 at Stick a pony in me pocket today. Jean-Christophe Dauchez was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Pedro Serrano and Khaleel Sam Askari. Backhanders started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Starters: Nicolae - Airlie, Yeong Ching, Spósito - Rust, Kennedy, Abed-Ibrahim, Vrenegoor, Sture - Kerridge, Balogh.

Snails had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Keen - Carroll, Derycke, Manzanarez - Righini, Clarke, Adelell, Kelečić, Noël - Piechot, Chadryś.

It seemed as though Snails considered the game won before even taking the field, which resulted in a very uninspired start to the game. For their match strategy, Backhanders had decided to use their ability to counter-attack whenever possible. Snails saw most attack opportunities on the wings. L. Carroll came close to putting the visiting team one up 9 minutes into the match, following a solo raid down the middle, but E. Nicolae managed to tip the ball to a corner. Snails were determined to attack on the wing and their central attempts were constantly abandoned in favour of the wings. The home crowd was not impressed by the fancy moves of Snails's L. Piechot after 21 minutes. He converted a pass from the left for a goal, resulting in the visitors taking the 0 - 1 lead. The crowd roared in delight as A. Sture finished off a spectacular series of passes through the middle to even the score for Backhanders 26 minutes into the match. 1 - 1. Snails's M. Chadryś got himself booked for a foul. The player down was K. Airlie. The Backhanders bench looked worried for a while, but in the end he managed to get up. Some good play on the left wing created an opportunity for the visitors 33 minutes into the match, and L. Piechot wasn't about to let it go by. He got past the defenders and fired a shot that the keeper just missed. 1 - 2 for the visitors. K. Airlie charged down the left and had a wonderful opportunity to score the equaliser for Backhanders, but the shot went well wide of the goal. 36 minutes into the game, K. Airlie had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came E. Silva. Halftime score was 1 - 2. Possession of the ball saw an equal split between the teams during the forty-five minutes.

The Snails players looked dangerously relaxed in the first half, but are none the less in the lead. A chat by the team captain has made the players a little more aware that the game has actually not yet been won. A foul 56 minutes into the game resulted in a free kick for Backhanders. G. Yeong Ching took advantage as he curled the equalising goal into the top corner, just out of the reach of the keeper. 2 - 2. The coach of Snails wanted to try to change things around after 56 minutes, and gave new tactical instructions. Backhanders had to make a substitution after 61 minutes. S. Vrenegoor limped off the field and was replaced by B. Kværndrup. Priding himself in being an active coach, the Snails manager gave new instructions to his players after 67 minutes. At 69 minutes played, V. Balogh came in from the right with the intention of giving Backhanders the lead, but his rocket of a shot rattled the crossbar. Snails's D. Clarke left the field after 71 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was J. Antunes. Players in Snails heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their central attacks to the wings instead. The terraces were silenced after 74 minutes when Snails's F. Kelečić put the guests ahead 2 - 3, following an attack on the right. 77 minutes into the match, Snails's N. Noël demonstrated his famed speed as he raced past his marker and passed the ball to M. Chadryś who chipped it in for 2 - 4. In an effort to secure the lead, Snails changed their tactic after 77 minutes. Snails enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 52 percent of possession.

The most dominating Backhanders player was without a doubt H. Kennedy. However, E. Silva made a disastrous appearance. Snails's top performer was clearly M. Adelell. L. Carroll on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 2 - 4.