FCAU 5 - 3 NTVV (390451964)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 12000 at FCAU Arena today. Sami J. Lehtonen was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Deivid Domínguez and Lars Höstbratt. FCAU had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. They fielded: Bronsema - Peekel, van Baarle, Grootings, van Wessel - Clignet, Zingstra, Esman, Kriek - de Ron, Schrama.

NTVV tactics involved an interesting 4-4-2 combination. Lineup: Hieltjes - Vonken, Damstra, Van der Wart, Eggink - Kostić, Guldemeester, Carstens, van den Wijngaard - Batenburg, Zoheir.

After 3 minutes, NTVV sent a free kick in high over the penalty box. In what looked like a well-rehearsed move, the ball was headed backwards and reached A. Carstens, who had plenty of space to place a well aimed shot - 0 - 1. A tussle 9 minutes into the match resulted in a penalty being awarded to the home team and A. Peekel put the ball into the back of the net without any difficulty. That tied the score up at 1 - 1. E. van Baarle of FCAU received a yellow card after 10 minutes for unsportsmanlike behaviour. FCAU fans held their breath as S. Clignet scampered down the left side. He successfully avoided all challenges and cracked home the shot for 2 - 1! NTVV's C. Vonken was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 27 minutes. 2 - 1 was the halftime score. Possession in this half belonged to NTVV, who controlled the ball 51 percent of the time.

C. Vonken finished off a quick charge from the left of the field by chipping the ball just past the home side's keeper, making the score 2 - 2 52 minutes into the match. With 65 minutes played, FCAU's well-worked indirect free kick caused havoc in the penalty area, and when the ball eventually fell to E. van Baarle he gleefully slotted the ball home to make it 3 - 2. FCAU were given a gift! The ref dubiously awarded them a penalty 66 minutes into the match, which was neatly put away by A. Peekel. 4 - 2 for the home side. S. van Roosmalen was called on to replace FCAU's P. Grootings after 67 minutes following a nasty collision. NTVV managed to reduce the score to 4 - 3 as M. Guldemeester finished off a well-played combination from the left, easily carving through the defence. W. de Ron of FCAU was booked for kicking the ball away after the whistle. A speedy charge from the left side of the field increased the lead of FCAU to 5 - 3 as E. van Baarle finished it off competently, firing in from an acute angle. NTVV had most of the ball, with 52 percent of possession.

The most dominating FCAU player was without a doubt S. van Roosmalen. However, R. Bronsema made a disastrous appearance. NTVV's best player was I. Eggink. R. Hieltjes on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 5 - 3.