Bandits 1 - 5 Siempre (391482456)

10537 punters turned up at Bistre Bandits Arena, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came. Hans-Guenther Habusta was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Saleh Ibn-Basim and Fülöp Knézy. Bandits had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. The following players took the field: Raymond - Dodson, Kooiman, Stutter, Pishur - Wu, Gatti, Drysdale, Sylvestre - Gosselin, Gurr.

Siempre decided to use a 4-5-1 set up. The following players had been chosen: Malevolti - Lesage, Kranich, Kiash, Thacker - Duhamel, Housar, Magnin, David, Landry - Papineau.

Siempre decided to play creatively. 17 minutes had elapsed when a great chance for Bandits to take the lead after a good cross from the right found P. Drysdale alone with the keeper, but he chipped it to the wrong side of the post. With 22 minutes played, seemingly due to lack of experience, M. Kranich needlessly tripped an opponent just outside the penalty area, but the free kick that followed didn't succeed. Siempre's K. Kiash gave the visitors a 0 - 1 lead after 28 minutes with a superb strike from the right. After 29 minutes, Bandits raised their score by one when R. Wu's dangerous low cross was cleverly tucked in at the near post by J. Sylvestre. 1 - 1. A mistake by the home side's central defence after 32 minutes allowed L. Thacker to score for Siempre. The scoreboard now read 1 - 2. It was 1 - 2 at the break. Siempre enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 57 percent of possession.

After 55 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for K. Kiash who increased Siempre's lead to 1 - 3. 71 minutes into the match, the visitors put themselves ahead 1 - 4 as A. Housar finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave M. Lesage from Siempre a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 77 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! A loud groan was heard from the fans of Bandits, as V. Raymond left the pitch in too much pain to finish the match. T. Rivest took his place on the field. J. Papineau received a delicate pass through the home side's central defence after 79 minutes, and chipped it past the flailing keeper to score making it 1 - 5. The Siempre fans went wild, whilst the home fans started to think about leaving early. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Siempre, with 64 percent of the ball.

S. Stutter performed admirably for Bandits. O. Kooiman was a disappointment, however. Siempre's top performer was clearly J. Papineau. However, M. Magnin made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 1 - 5.