Tigers 2 - 3 Delfshaven (390353765)

Dark skies made the crowd of 20000 at The Tigerdome a little nervous, but the rain held off. Jerzy Cyps Albo Zyps was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Riku Majavuo and Patrice Vendramini. Tigers started off with a 3-4-3 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Machado - Papp, Alliende, Birindelli - Rozbroj, Villalaúd, Forcadell, Walkner - Delgado, Olbryś, Mianowany.

Delfshaven tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Lineup: Toon - Fischer, Cachot, Morán - Kıymet, das Neves, Münzer, Hellbo, Cucco - Luirink, Misrun.

They were singing the praises of A. Mianowany 16 minutes into the match after his speculative chip from the middle of the penalty box found its way over the visitors' keeper to make the score 1 - 0 to Tigers. Things were going to get worse for the visitors. S. Olbryś squirmed through their central defence after 24 minutes, increasing the lead to 2 - 0. At this point, it was obvious that the players of Tigers lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. 29 minutes in, E. Luirink made an incredible run up the middle and nearly reduced the home side's lead, but J. Machado refused to let the ball slip by him. Tigers's J. Papp got himself booked for a foul. S. Olbryś should probably have put his team up another goal after 38 minutes, but some great goalkeeping by A. Toon kept the visitors in the game. It was 2 - 0 at the break. Delfshaven enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 51 percent of possession.

J. Machado made a brilliant save 62 minutes into the match, blocking a rocket of a shot from E. Luirink on the right hand side. F. Kıymet had a couple of good opportunities to reply, but the home team's keeper J. Machado was simply unbeatable. Morale on the visitors' bench was greatly improved when their E. Luirink reduced the lead to make it 2 - 1 after 70 minutes, following a pass from the right. Delfshaven's A. Hellbo was shown a yellow card after 73 minutes for slicing down an opponent. F. Kıymet made a good effort at breaking through on the right, but the home team's left defence cleared the ball to a corner. After 78 minutes, the defensive line of Tigers created a counterattack through the middle that gave P. Forcadell a good look at the goal, but his shot glanced harmlessly off the crossbar. 79 minutes into the game Delfshaven's A. Morán found a gap in the home side's central defence and scored with a fabulous shot, making it 2 - 2. A mistake by the home side's central defence after 80 minutes allowed S. Cucco to score for Delfshaven. The scoreboard now read 2 - 3. The referee showed Tigers's V. Alliende the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Tigers had most of the ball, with 51 percent of possession.

The most dominating Tigers player was without a doubt A. Mianowany. S. Olbryś turned in a dismal performance, however. E. Luirink performed admirably for Delfshaven. H. Fischer was a disappointment, however. The match ends 2 - 3.