Rocchese 3 - 4 SunHope (392336656)

The weather was pretty good, and a crowd of 16501 had shown up at Il cerchio degli dei for the match. Patrik Ghini was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Erik Sandskog and Steffen Kersaan. Rocchese decided to use a 2-5-3 set up. Starters: Romito - Henault, Devizzi - Baicu, Zanca, Künzer, Wensink, Prim - Pantić, Roxas, Fatturo.

SunHope had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players took the field: Mocanu - Hemmilä, Pizzuti, Chiritescu - Cansu, Andidero, Vallesi, Spena, Giunta - Fagerhall, Boccabianca.

SunHope tried to focus their attacks down the middle. R. Roxas caused the crowd to go mental with his goal up the middle after 18 minutes. This gave Rocchese the 1 - 0 lead. Rocchese's V. Devizzi got himself booked for a foul. SunHope had a chance to level the score as M. Giunta suddenly found himself free in the middle of the box with only the keeper to beat, but he misjudged the finish, and only managed to hit the bar. The home side's A. Henault curled a free kick home after 38 minutes, putting Rocchese ahead 2 - 0. Things were going to get worse for the visitors. P. Pantić squirmed through their central defence after 39 minutes, increasing the lead to 3 - 0. Rocchese's G. Zanca left the field after 42 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was M. Urpunen. 3 - 0 was the score after the first half. SunHope enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 56 percent of possession.

The referee showed SunHope's R. Hemmilä the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Due to a severely mistimed tackle, V. Devizzi of Rocchese spent some time on the grass writhing in agony before he could get up and continue the game. I. Baicu had a fantastic opportunity to put Rocchese up another goal 66 minutes into the match, but he fired just over the crossbar. SunHope players heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their wing attacks to the middle instead. SunHope were desperate to get a goal back and pushed forward through the middle 68 minutes into the game. After a scramble in the box, the ball dropped to A. Spena, who smashed it home to make the score 3 - 1. It was obvious that team SunHope had instructions to attack in the middle instead of on the wings. The home team's fans were upset when, after 79 minutes, the visiting O. Fagerhall broke through the central defence and kicked the ball past the keeper. 3 - 2 was the score. SunHope tied it all up, 81 minutes in, after a spectacular goal by S. Pizzuti, who miraculously broke through the home side's central defence, making it 3 - 3. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by SunHope, with 62 percent of the ball.

With the scores being level after 90 minutes, the match went into extra time. SunHope's F. Cansu could have put the guests one up after 92 minutes after chasing a through ball from the right, but M. Romito was as fast as a snake, grabbing the ball from under his nose. After 97 minutes, SunHope were awarded a free kick. Rather than shooting straight at goal, the taker went for an indirect variant which seemed to take his team mates a bit by surprise. A. Spena did attempt a finish, but from an awkward position, sending the ball into the away fans. Central attacks were the recipe of the day for SunHope, as they moved the ball from the wings to the middle with startling regularity. A mistake by the home side's central defence after 110 minutes allowed O. Fagerhall to score for SunHope. The scoreboard now read 3 - 4. Extra time over, SunHope were the victors! Most important Rocchese player was P. Pantić. However, C. Prim made a disastrous appearance. SunHope's top performer was clearly G. Vallesi. S. Pizzuti was a disappointment, however. The match ends 3 - 4.