Steamrollers 0 - 5 Kenitra (392074801)

The 12000 spectators at German Steamrollers Arena were in for an afternoon of sunshine. Roger Wickén was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Daniel Bassols and Jan Ohrel. A 4-4-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Steamrollers. The following players took the field: Carnes - Mackenzie, Bridges, Fraley, Ramey - Eggleston, Serna, Hawkins, Barnes - Casanova, Miller.

Kenitra started off with a 4-4-2 lineup. Lineup: Wottawa - Navarro, Hall, Curran-Hardy, Alfaro - Arnold, Schwartzenburg, Duvall, Toh - Thomsen, Balitchev.

Counter-attacking seemed to be the preferred strategy of Kenitra. A mistake by the home side's central defence after 21 minutes allowed T. Thomsen to score for Kenitra. The scoreboard now read 0 - 1. The visitors' M. Curran-Hardy took advantage of a misunderstanding between the home side's goalie and centre backs 22 minutes into the match. 0 - 2 for Kenitra. 25 minutes into the game, Kenitra worked the left side industriously creating several opportunities to add to their lead, but just couldn't apply the finishing touch. After 36 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for B. Toh who increased Kenitra's lead to 0 - 3. The home crowd cheered when, after 37 minutes, K. Balitchev's charge up the middle resulted in the keeper making one of his best saves of the day. The referee showed Kenitra's L. Arnold the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Due to a severely mistimed tackle, D. Eggleston of Steamrollers spent some time on the grass writhing in agony before he could get up and continue the game. As the match clock hit 40 minutes, Kenitra regrouped to try and keep their initiative in the game. B. Toh high-fived L. Arnold as they swapped positions on the team. It was 0 - 3 at the break. Kenitra claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 68 percent.

Still ahead in the game after 50 minutes, Kenitra made some tactical adjustments. T. Thomsen and G. Schwartzenburg swapped positions. It wasn't a good day at all for T. Thomsen. His powerful style of play just didn't fit the bill on this warm day. W. Hall wanted to play on, but the Kenitra coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 60 minutes into the game by A. Howe. R. Wottawa was handed the Kenitra captain's armband. L. Arnold of Kenitra got sent off for kicking the ball after the whistle, a completely uncalled for move, earning him his second yellow card of the game. After 73 minutes, an incisive pass through the middle gave J. Navarro a chance to increase the lead for Kenitra, and he did not disappoint. The score was then 0 - 4. Kenitra increased their lead after 75 minutes when G. Schwartzenburg broke through on the right, upping the score to 0 - 5, much to the home crowd's dismay. The players of Kenitra now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. M. Duvall left the field with a smile on his face as he was substituted 80 minutes into the game, as his team was in the lead. K. Browder was the replacement. Possession in this half belonged to Kenitra, who controlled the ball 69 percent of the time.

Steamrollers's top performer was clearly R. Hawkins. However, J. Fraley made a disastrous appearance. Most important Kenitra player was G. Schwartzenburg. R. Wottawa on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 0 - 5.