R.U.E 2 - 4 Dirkfish (390266240)

Due to an all-day shower, 17417 paying spectators got to see a match on a pitch-turned-bog at ''De Leane''. Kai Hauru was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Gavin Swabey and Carlos Martínez. A 4-5-1 alignment was the formation of choice for R.U.E. Starters: Panocha - Schuttenhelm, Devillers, Zomer, Wielinga - Rigamonti, Di Natale, Julia, Morettini, Herreras - Capela.

Dirkfish had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Palhas - Bewersdorff, van Geuns, Neukirchner - Vähäpassi, Sukatendel, Lamberts, Pyy, van Amsterdam - Anglí, Wimmers.

R.U.E showed off their creative tactics. Dirkfish clearly preferred using their ability to attack in the middle. L. Morettini had a hard time on the waterlogged pitch - his trademark technique was nowhere in sight today. 18 minutes into the game, P. Bewersdorff had a great chance to put his team ahead, but his kick from the left went wide. 20 minutes into the game, Dirkfish's J. Lamberts missed an opportunity to score the leading goal from a penalty when he delivered the shot straight into the keeper's hands. After 36 minutes, F. Rigamonti came in from the right, feinted, then sped past the off-balance defender to make the score 1 - 0, giving R.U.E the lead. The teams went for the halftime break at 1 - 0. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by R.U.E, with 61 percent of the ball.

The visitors' S. Anglí was alert after a cross coming in from the left, levelling the score at 1 - 1 after 71 minutes. Dirkfish took the lead 75 minutes into the game, making the score 1 - 2 after some elegant movement down the middle. A. Pyy was the scorer. X. Herreras slipped and slithered in the wet grass. His usual rapid runs were nowhere to be seen today. With the crowd on their feet chanting wildly, some great moves down the right hand side after 88 minutes gave R.U.E a wonderful opportunity to level the score, and W. Schuttenhelm stepped up to the challenge. 2 - 2 Dirkfish's A. Pyy was shown a yellow card after 89 minutes for slicing down an opponent. Almost all the way down to the corner flag, Dirkfish's T. van Amsterdam somehow managed to get a perfect pass into the middle, impossible to miss for I. Wimmers, who struck for 2 - 3. With 89 minutes played, a quick exchange of passes on the left wing freed T. van Amsterdam of Dirkfish to slip through the defence and score another goal for the visitors. That made the score 2 - 4. R.U.E claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 58 percent.

The most dominating R.U.E player was without a doubt G. Di Natale. However, F. Capela made a disastrous appearance. Dirkfish's top performer was clearly S. Anglí. On the other hand, A. Vähäpassi's play was disheartening. The match ends 2 - 4.