Appies 4 - 2 Smedboys (390260230)

The weather was pretty good, and a crowd of 47118 had shown up at Appies BadKuip for the match. Jair Fernández was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Anders Hansen and Stefano Benetti. Appies started off with a 3-4-3 lineup. Starters: Lindbom - Schilperoort, Pesce, Gliksman - Wijffels, Benz, van Sonnen, Akid - Canisius, Lezize, Podolskiy.

Smedboys had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Joos - Hoitema, Caridade, Zwaga - van Schalkwijk, Rijnink, Morel, Pastoor, Lauerhof - Guilherme, Grife.

M. Wijffels gave Appies the lead as he successfully challenged the guests' central defenders, then slotted the ball into the bottom corner, giving the keeper no chance. 1 - 0 29 minutes into the match, the visitors' central line of defence had to look on as J. Canisius broke through, making the score 2 - 0 for Appies. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave S. van Sonnen from Appies a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 33 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! J. Grife of Smedboys had to be helped off the pitch as an injury meant he was unable to finish the game. T. Bontekoning came in to finish the match. Appies's J. Canisius had an excellent opportunity after 39 minutes, shooting after receiving a pass from the right hand side, but he missed the goal by miles! The visitors' right side was dangerous today; M. van Schalkwijk made the home team's keeper look foolish as he easily reduced the lead to make it 2 - 1 41 minutes into the match. 2 - 1 was the halftime score. Possession in this half belonged to Appies, who controlled the ball 51 percent of the time.

After 47 minutes, a couple of quick and successful challenges followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area by H. Lezize might have resulted in another goal for Appies. However, L. Joos made a spectacular save. Some brilliant football from the visitors' right wing resulted in a levelling of the score as Smedboys's F. Zwaga put the ball in the onion bag after 48 minutes to make it 2 - 2. After 75 minutes, Appies raised their score by one when M. Wijffels's dangerous low cross was cleverly tucked in at the near post by H. Lezize. 3 - 2. The coach of Appies was happy with the game so far, but still wanted to change the line up. After 75 minutes, V. Silvar came on for J. Canisius. After 78 minutes, H. Lezize put Appies ahead 4 - 2 when he rose to head in a cross from the right wing. Appies claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 54 percent.

H. Lezize performed admirably for Appies. V. Silvar was a disappointment, however. Smedboys's best player was A. Guilherme. However, F. Zwaga made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 4 - 2.