McLaren 2 - 5 Sicilians (390273177)

The 27541 spectators at Nick's Place were in for an afternoon of sunshine. Rafaël Cammelbeeck was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Gustaw Łój and Jenel Viziru. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for McLaren. They fielded: Pascal - Bogaers, Wenzel, Ventriglia - van Ekeren, Czina, Fiorito, van 't Klooster, Bogg - Bacon, Bikus.

Sicilians tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Lineup: Józsi - Campos, Hombau, Gomes - Impellizzeri, Lagneaux, Csekei, van Aerden, Maunuksela - Birtsev, van der Kroef.

After 5 minutes, E. van 't Klooster sent the corner kick right to V. Bogaers who headed it sharply past the keeper. 1 - 0! Always quick and a menace to his opponents, S. Bikus was very close to getting through after 6 minutes, but he could only put the ball into the keeper's arms. McLaren's R. van Ekeren had to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines, after twisting his ankle with 14 minutes having been played. W. Piętka was the replacement. 16 minutes into the match the visitors levelled the score at 1 - 1 as R. Lagneaux struck home from a rebound off the crossbar, following a shot from the right. Sicilians took the lead 17 minutes into the game, making the score 1 - 2 after some elegant movement down the middle. T. van der Kroef was the scorer. The visitors added to their lead 19 minutes into the game, after a sensational penalty kick by Sicilians's T. van der Kroef slid just past the home keeper. 1 - 3. After the ball was lifted in from the left, A. Campos was on his own in the home side's penalty area and should have scored after 23 minutes, but missed, probably due to lack of concentration. The teams went for the halftime break at 1 - 3. Sicilians enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 56 percent of possession.

With 55 minutes played, the McLaren coach decided a substitution may help turn the game around. K. Świrgoń came on, G. Pascal had to leave the fray. McLaren reduced the lead to 2 - 3 with 55 minutes on the clock when O. Ventriglia got the best of a ball floated in from the left. Proving his experience, R. Birtsev scored 2 - 4 for Sicilians after putting some pressure on the opposing defence at a critical moment. The Sicilians players could smell victory in the air. G. van Aerden wasn't in a hurry to leave the field as he was substituted for M. Fradin after 65 minutes. E. Impellizzeri left the field with a smile on his face as he was substituted 65 minutes into the game, as his team was in the lead. H. Fauth was the replacement. With 65 minutes played, Z. Csekei 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. Sicilians increased their lead after 67 minutes when Z. Csekei broke through on the right, upping the score to 2 - 5, much to the home crowd's dismay. Confident in their lead, Sicilians's players relaxed and focused more on defending the lead than increasing it. Content with how the game was proceeding, the Sicilians coach let O. Tola replace G. Józsi after 80 minutes. Sicilians claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 57 percent.

Most important McLaren player was H. Bacon. W. Piętka turned in a dismal performance, however. Sicilians's top performer was clearly T. van der Kroef. R. Maunuksela was a disappointment, however. The match ends 2 - 5.