Sacomurcho 4 - 2 Struts (391564378)

Weather conditions were fairly good for football, and Parque Filhos do Saco Murcho saw a crowd turnout of 37780. Eigil Abelsen was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Bengt Wedén and Claudio Caviglia. A 2-5-3 alignment was the formation of choice for Sacomurcho. Lineup: Maia Nunes - Eulâmpio, Abiusi - Bakir, Berdugo, Froudarakis, Faria, Casal - Nelisse, Ricciardi, Lobato.

Struts decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. They fielded: Ortega - Corrias, Glécio, Luz - Góis, Garbereiter, Cecchini, Korpelainen, Wixinger - Fekiač, Redd.

The strategy for Struts was to use their ability to press. After 10 minutes, D. Lobato came in from the right, feinted, then sped past the off-balance defender to make the score 1 - 0, giving Sacomurcho the lead. With 15 minutes played, Struts's well-worked indirect free kick caused havoc in the penalty area, and when the ball eventually fell to B. Fekiač he gleefully slotted the ball home to make it 1 - 1. Sacomurcho had a chance to take the lead after A. Faria's dazzling drive up the left, but the opportunity fizzled out as his shot went just over the bar after 16 minutes. Sacomurcho's D. Lobato was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 17 minutes. Sacomurcho had a good opportunity to take the lead as A. Nelisse came up the left side, but he struck the ball weakly and it went straight into the arms of C. Ortega. Sacomurcho took the lead after 34 minutes as a result of D. Lobato's peach of a shot from the right hand side of the box - placed beautifully in the top corner. 2 - 1. A magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Sacomurcho's D. Lobato increasing the lead to 3 - 1. By then D. Lobato had scored three goals - a hat trick! Struts's S. Garbereiter had to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines, after twisting his ankle with 41 minutes having been played. C. Gray was the replacement. The teams went for the halftime break at 3 - 1. Sacomurcho claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 63 percent.

The pressing tactics used by Struts were successful as the ball remained close to the half way line at all times. The referee showed Struts's A. Glécio the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. With 63 minutes played, Sacomurcho's S. Froudarakis almost extended the lead, but his shot from the left glanced off the top of the bar to fall behind the net. Sacomurcho's S. Froudarakis increased the lead to 4 - 1, after he saw his shot go between the legs of the advancing goalkeeper following some good play down the right wing after 64 minutes. Sacomurcho's A. Nelisse saw his fine effort strike the top of the bar following some good work up the middle by his teammates after 67 minutes. The guests got an opportunity to reduce after 70 minutes and H. Korpelainen took it from the penalty spot, scoring easily for 4 - 2. Possession in this half belonged to Sacomurcho, who controlled the ball 65 percent of the time.

The most dominating Sacomurcho player was without a doubt A. Eulâmpio. However, M. Maia Nunes made a disastrous appearance. Struts's top performer was clearly A. Glécio. On the other hand, C. Gray's play was disheartening. The match ends 4 - 2.