Jamtarts 2 - 3 Aspen (390068960)

45126 spectators arrived at Fortress Tynecastle, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Rinus Swagemakers was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Noël Molina and Oscar Cabezon Lopez. A 5-3-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Jamtarts. The following players took the field: van Commenee - Couto, Mbala, Flikas, Vincze, Hristov - Eijndhoven, Sänger, Thürlemann - Le Mouel, Schlottke.

Aspen started off with a 4-5-1 lineup. Lineup: Beylin - Zingerli, Anderson, Dyukov, Ozores - Gelinas, Bassey, Bamforth, Gregory, Gunn - Cooper.

Jamtarts seemed to prefer attacking in the middle. Counter-attacking seemed to be the preferred strategy of Aspen. Some good play on the left wing created an opportunity for the visitors 7 minutes into the match, and J. Cooper wasn't about to let it go by. He got past the defenders and fired a shot that the keeper just missed. 0 - 1 for the visitors. A corner kick created great disorder in the penalty area with a goal nearly scored by J. Schlottke. At last, Jamtarts's N. Flikas was able to backheel the ball in. 1 - 1. Aspen's counterattacks were lethal to the opposing defence, allowing Y. Dyukov to score easily from the right flank for 1 - 2. P. Bamforth of Aspen was booked for kicking the ball away after the whistle. The visitors nearly scored again after 37 minutes, but a superb save by M. van Commenee kept J. Gunn's free kick out of the net. 39 minutes into the match, the visitors put themselves ahead 1 - 3 as J. Gunn finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. It was 1 - 3 at the break. Jamtarts claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 57 percent.

After a short break after 50 minutes, Aspen seemed to change their tactical approach a bit. Jamtarts refused to be intimidated and, breaking through the middle, J. Schlottke managed to slip the ball home for 2 - 3. B. Hristov made a superb strike after 56 minutes with a shot straight in front of the goal after a long ball through the middle, but one of the visitors' defenders got a foot in at the last second and warded it off for a corner. Jamtarts had a good opportunity to attack on the wing, but remembered their instructions to go for middle attacks. Good work by the Aspen defensive line after 69 minutes produced a good counterattack chance, which cut elegantly down the middle of the pitch and found S. Ozores alone in front of the goal, but his shot whistled just wide. 72 minutes in, Aspen's Y. Dyukov received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. I. Vincze of Jamtarts had to be helped off the pitch as an injury meant he was unable to finish the game. J. Barrett came in to finish the match. Aspen's J. Gunn missed a penalty shot 78 minutes into the contest. The shot produced was way too weak, allowing the keeper to collect it at his own leisure. Aspen's B. Bassey got himself booked for a foul. A loud groan was heard from the fans of Jamtarts, as J. Le Mouel left the pitch in too much pain to finish the match. R. Ferrant took his place on the field. Jamtarts had most of the ball, with 61 percent of possession.

J. Schlottke performed admirably for Jamtarts. On the other hand, J. Barrett's play was disheartening. The most dominating Aspen player was without a doubt J. Cooper. Y. Dyukov turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 2 - 3.