Berenjenas 4 - 8 Martí (392420333)

The weather was pretty good, and a crowd of 14610 had shown up at Municipal de las Gaunas Berenjenas for the match. Felix Vugolle was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Javier Rubio and Rober Baxendale. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Berenjenas. They fielded: Vasconcelos - Krondahl, Gutiérrez, Arecchia - Aarsleff, Domingues, Vigo, van der Werf, Camarinha - Lacchini, Desfrán.

Martí decided to use a 5-3-2 set up. Lineup: Kamo - Marroquín, Mariño, Lucas, Beldea, Withofs - Pacheco, Okimasa, Fuente - Brinz, La Rocca.

Berenjenas broke through on the left 2 minutes into the game, with E. Desfrán firing in from an acute angle to give the home side a 1 - 0 lead. Berenjenas put themselves up 2 - 0 when M. Arecchia broke through on the right, leaving the entire defence trailing in his wake. Berenjenas's T. van der Werf swung in a good chance from the left, but the visitors' defence were able to clear the ball. Martí reduced the lead after 28 minutes to 2 - 1 as R. Lucas easily chipped the ball past the home side's keeper after a dazzling play from the right. The home team will be cursing A. La Rocca for weeks; he finished off a great pass from the left, knocking it past the keeper without a problem. The match was level at 2 - 2 after 29 minutes. L. Lacchini of Berenjenas was booked for kicking the ball away after the whistle. After 39 minutes, J. Fuente sent the corner kick right to A. Beldea who headed it sharply past the keeper. 2 - 3! 2 - 3 was the halftime score. Possession in this half belonged to Berenjenas, who controlled the ball 54 percent of the time.

After a fatal mistake from the away team's right side defence 48 minutes into the match, an alert E. Desfrán bagged the ball for Berenjenas, levelling the score to 3 - 3. As the 69 minute mark approached, the Berenjenas coach decided it was time for a substitution. F. Camarinha reluctantly made way for S. Mazon on the pitch. After 73 minutes, the Berenjenas coach wanted to see a new face on the pitch, waving C. Domingues off the field. L. Gutiérrez took his place. The home crowd breathed a collective sigh of relief when A. La Rocca was unable to put the ball in the net after his show of skill down the left 73 minutes into the match. He was seen beating the pitch in frustration at missing such a good chance to give his team the lead! 77 minutes into the match, the referee signalled for a Berenjenas substitution. D. Virga came on for L. Lacchini. Berenjenas claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 54 percent.

Still tied after 90 minutes, the match continued into extra time. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave M. Marroquín from Martí a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 111 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! Martí's M. Marroquín had to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines, after twisting his ankle with 112 minutes having been played. H. Albarellos was the replacement. The result was still a draw, so the match had to be settled with penalties.

Berenjenas's E. Desfrán looked nervous even as he was putting the ball on the spot. He didn't take much of a run up, and his weak shot was easily saved by the keeper. Martí's N. Kamo showed he has nerves of steel when it comes to penalties, easily changing the score to 3 - 4. Berenjenas's A. Vasconcelos looked like he knew exactly where he wanted to put the ball, but unfortunately his shot went wide of the left hand post. Still 3 - 4. Martí's J. Fuente made no mistake. A. Vasconcelos didn't have a chance. 3 - 5. A confident M. Gutiérrez of Berenjenas put the ball right where he wanted, but N. Kamo was right there for the save. No goal. There aren't many players that have the cheek to take a penalty like that! Martí's T. Okimasa showed he was one of them, as he made it 3 - 6. Oooh - how unlucky! Berenjenas's M. Arecchia attempt hit the underside of the bar, but rebounded down into the grateful arms of N. Kamo. The score stays 3 - 6. Martí's A. Pacheco was relaxed as he smoothly put the ball in the net. 3 - 7! Berenjenas's D. Virga coolly put the ball past N. Kamo. 4 - 7. The crowd was awed by H. Albarellos's finely placed shot for Martí making it 4 - 8. The most dominating Berenjenas player was without a doubt E. Desfrán. M. Gutiérrez turned in a dismal performance, however. Martí's best player was A. La Rocca. C. Withofs was a disappointment, however. The match ends 4 - 8.