Hooligans 1 - 5 Kunie (390242117)

52745 punters turned up at De Gevangenis, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came. Bruno Saulnier was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Guillaume Page and Hans Nygaard. Fans of both teams had been eagerly awaiting this Overijssel derby and were doing their best to outshout their opponents. Hooligans decided to use a 4-4-2 set up. Starters: Barlagen - Plotko, Kerstens, Hansma, Foronda - Luculampa, den Rooijen, Delmotte, Idan - de Hooge, Stevenhagen.

A 2-5-3 alignment was the formation of choice for Kunie. They fielded: Nifenecker - Diago, Eylon - Brugiotti, Wensveen, Vles, Breij, Mandarin - Verkulevičius, Castellanos, Wotte.

Using their counter-attacking abilities was the strategy of choice for Hooligans. 6 minutes into the game, G. Vles was a hair's breadth away from giving Kunie the lead with a shot from over on the left. A prompt block by B. Barlagen saved the home team that time. The home crowd was not impressed by the fancy moves of Kunie's N. Wotte after 21 minutes. He converted a pass from the left for a goal, resulting in the visitors taking the 0 - 1 lead. 38 minutes into the game, Kunie worked the left side industriously creating several opportunities to add to their lead, but just couldn't apply the finishing touch. The corner kick from R. Diago was powerfully met by the head of E. Mandarin to make the score 0 - 2. After 43 minutes, Kunie's N. Wotte burst through the central defence and let loose a cannonball of a shot, scoring for 0 - 3. By now, the players in Kunie felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. 0 - 3 was the score after the first half. Kunie enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 65 percent of possession.

With 62 minutes played, N. Wotte nearly put the visitors another one up as he broke through in the middle and fired from just outside the box, but his shot passed just over the bar. Hooligans almost scored after a counterattack 63 minutes into the match, but R. Kerstens took a shot from the left that landed harmlessly in the side of the net. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave M. Verkulevičius from Kunie a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 73 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! The home team's supporters got excited again when W. de Hooge broke through the visitors' central defence and caught their keeper off guard, making it 1 - 3. 83 minutes into the game, U. Eylon had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came C. Nichols. N. Wotte of Kunie was able to make an impressive rush past the sluggish A. Hansma, which resulted in a goal making the score 1 - 4. That was his third goal of the match - a hat trick for N. Wotte. Hooligans's E. Plotko managed a superb strike from the left after 88 minutes that would have left goalkeeper D. Nifenecker without a chance, had it not hit the post. One of many good crosses from E. Mandarin on the wing was received and skillfully taken care of by N. Wotte, who scored for Kunie. 1 - 5 Possession in this half belonged to Kunie, who controlled the ball 64 percent of the time.

Hooligans's top performer was clearly L. den Rooijen. On the other hand, B. Delmotte's play was disheartening. Most important Kunie player was N. Wotte. R. Diago turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 1 - 5.