Rotterdam 3 - 1 viccies (390722446)

Dark skies made the crowd of 12000 at South Rotterdam Arena a little nervous, but the rain held off. Xaver Sage was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Alberto Martín Díaz and Ville Äijälä. Rotterdam decided to use a 4-4-2 set up. Lineup: Joordens - Koot, Hajer, Verwijk, Tollens - Ubbink, Wijdenbosch, Schalij, van der Vlag - Vrede, Hoogendoorn.

viccies started off with a 4-4-2 lineup. Starters: Theunisse - Sival, Snoucks, Walstra, Mei - Konings, van Damme, Heijdt, Blomme - Bastiaans, Reens.

viccies's goal to make the score 0 - 1 came via a questionable penalty, but E. Sival struck it home without a second thought. With the crowd on their feet chanting wildly, some great moves down the right hand side after 20 minutes gave Rotterdam a wonderful opportunity to level the score, and L. Wijdenbosch stepped up to the challenge. 1 - 1 L. Koot of Rotterdam received a yellow card after 29 minutes for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Some great play up the middle by Rotterdam led to a chance for C. Vrede to score after 33 minutes, but the shot hit the crossbar. Rotterdam fans held their breath as L. Koot scampered down the left side. He successfully avoided all challenges and cracked home the shot for 2 - 1! The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave V. van Damme from viccies a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 37 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! 2 - 1 was the halftime score. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Rotterdam, with 55 percent of the ball.

In a rapid move 52 minutes into the match, C. Vrede of Rotterdam lost his man and passed the ball to the unmarked W. Hoogendoorn who easily hit it home to make it 3 - 1. Luckily the ref didn't see him taunting the opposing fans in celebration - naughty boy! Confident in their lead, Rotterdam's players relaxed and focused more on defending the lead than increasing it. The home side's M. Tollens came close to extending the lead 72 minutes into the game. His shot came in from the right hand side but H. Theunisse managed to save it with an unbelievable reaction stop. viccies were able to draw a foul with their counterattacks, but the shot from E. Sival went into the arms of the keeper. H. van der Vlag of Rotterdam was booked for kicking the ball away after the whistle. With 84 minutes played, Rotterdam's W. Hoogendoorn almost extended the lead, but his shot from the left glanced off the top of the bar to fall behind the net. L. Koot had a fantastic opportunity to put Rotterdam up another goal 88 minutes into the match, but he fired just over the crossbar. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, J. Snoucks got himself booked. The manager of viccies was not happy. Rotterdam enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 57 percent of possession.

D. Verwijk performed admirably for Rotterdam. However, S. Joordens made a disastrous appearance. viccies's top performer was clearly W. Heijdt. H. Theunisse on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 3 - 1.