Rownhams 5 - 5 Ralphs (390061226)

23354 spectators had come to The ThunderDome this cloudy day. Nutu Adumbe was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Ferdinand Bantelmann and Nicolas Frede. Rownhams had chosen a strategic 3-4-3 formation. Starters: Vijande - Tittmansdorf, Baldwin, Olivera - Hoblik, Spierings, Rahman, Gibić - Grenholm, Block, Waghäusel.

Ralphs tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. They fielded: van Dijk - Enein, Broda, Andreus - Stevenson, Davison, Bright-Thomas, Shaw, Tessarolo - Kallfaß, Volikov.

It was an obvious ambition of Rownhams to use their ability at attacking on the flanks. Ralphs seemed to prefer attacking in the middle. Ralphs had a good opportunity to attack on the wing, but remembered their instructions to go for middle attacks. The visiting A. Tessarolo was booed thoroughly by the home crowd 8 minutes into the game, after he broke through the middle and scored, resulting in the visitors taking the lead. 0 - 1 was the score. After 10 minutes, Ralphs's M. Shaw burst through the central defence and let loose a cannonball of a shot, scoring for 0 - 2. Players in Rownhams heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their central attacks to the wings instead. Rownhams didn't give in and with 19 minutes played P. Grenholm was able to make the score 1 - 2 after an attack on the right. G. Kallfaß received a delicate pass through the home side's central defence after 32 minutes, and chipped it past the flailing keeper to score making it 1 - 3. The Ralphs fans went wild, whilst the home fans started to think about leaving early. At this point, it was obvious that the players of Ralphs lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. The teams went for the halftime break at 1 - 3. Ralphs had most of the ball, with 55 percent of possession.

L. Hoblik's speed is always a threat when he gets a little room to move, and 75 minutes into the match was no different as he broke free of his man to send a delightful through ball to J. Block who knocked it in for Rownhams. 2 - 3! After 76 minutes, an incisive pass through the middle gave A. Volikov a chance to increase the lead for Ralphs, and he did not disappoint. The score was then 2 - 4. It took several tries, but Rownhams managed to break through on the left after 79 minutes, getting the ball to G. Olivera who easily reduced the lead to make the score 3 - 4. Central attacks were the recipe of the day for Ralphs, as they moved the ball from the wings to the middle with startling regularity. After 80 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for G. Kallfaß who increased Ralphs's lead to 3 - 5. It was obvious that Rownhams had instructions to attack on the wings instead of in the middle. 85 minutes into the match, Rownhams's M. Waghäusel collected a ball sent down the right and put it in the back of the net, narrowing the score to 4 - 5. With the crowd on their feet chanting wildly, some great moves down the right hand side after 86 minutes gave Rownhams a wonderful opportunity to level the score, and I. Gibić stepped up to the challenge. 5 - 5 Ralphs enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 58 percent of possession.

The most dominating Rownhams player was without a doubt M. Waghäusel. G. Olivera was a disappointment, however. Ralphs's top performer was clearly A. Volikov. A. Tessarolo turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 5 - 5.