ELCH 1 - 3 Kasten (392641006)

The crowd of 27509 turning up at Dürrbach today were greeted with some nasty showers of rain. Valtteri Mällönen was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Ciro Spina and Llamil Baldoni. ELCH had chosen a strategic 4-5-1 formation. The following players had been chosen: Bijoux - Pradelles, Guasch, Kleger, Sutz - Zabuski, Normak, Tilley, Hargis, Melliger - Donkers.

Kasten started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Starters: Pendl - Esser, Balkı, Liekas - Barrachina, Hillion, Østerud, Valiente Mariscal, Besoain - Falcón, Eelman.

Using their counter-attacking abilities was the strategy of choice for ELCH. With 2 minutes played, the home side managed to get a 1 - 0 lead as P. Kleger flipped the ball in after a cross from the right. With 21 minutes played, A. Barrachina came in from the right and could have evened the score, but the defenders successfully repelled the attack by Kasten. F. Donkers should probably have put his team up another goal after 29 minutes, but some great goalkeeping by M. Pendl kept the visitors in the game. The visitors kept the pressure on to tie the game when, after 33 minutes, C. Eelman broke through the centre and found himself alone with the keeper. F. Bijoux made a great block, though. The visitors' A. Barrachina was alert after a cross coming in from the left, levelling the score at 1 - 1 after 39 minutes. 1 - 1 was the score after the first half. Kasten enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 72 percent of possession.

S. Zabuski had a hard time on the waterlogged pitch - his trademark technique was nowhere in sight today. As the 65 minute mark approached, the ELCH coach decided it was time for a substitution. F. Donkers reluctantly made way for A. Cruz on the pitch. F. Bijoux looked great 66 minutes into the match after stopping a shot from the middle of the penalty area from the visitors' C. Valiente Mariscal. ELCH's counterattacks created a good chance for S. Melliger on the right after 67 minutes, but he could only look on with dismay as his strike rebounded off the crossbar. A. Barrachina slipped and slithered in the wet grass. His usual rapid runs were nowhere to be seen today. Kasten's B. Liekas got himself booked for a foul. After 77 minutes, the Kasten coach had a quick word about the tactical set-up and decided to try another approach. After a savage shot that could only be parried by the keeper, C. Eelman demonstrated his experience by being in just the right place to slot home the rebound. His goal for Kasten 85 minutes into the match made the score 1 - 2. H. Falcón wanted to play on, but the Kasten coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 86 minutes into the game by M. Rosaleck. After 86 minutes, the Kasten players received new instructions from their manager on how to keep in control of the game. 87 minutes into the game a free kick by H. Esser found its way through the home side's poorly assembled defensive formation, making Kasten's lead 1 - 3. Kasten claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 75 percent.

ELCH's top performer was clearly A. Cruz. E. Hargis on the other hand, had a terrible day. Kasten's best player was C. Eelman. However, E. Balkı made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 1 - 3.