Gradjanski 1 - 4 Falcons (392719671)

The crowd of 1931 turning up at Gradski Stadion today were greeted with some nasty showers of rain. Helge Domina was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Aarto Valkama and Gastone Discenza. Gradjanski decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. The following players had been chosen: Kurdulija - Deljković, Majić, Talović - Škaljić, Negro, Eriksson, Drãghici, Sofić - Šurbat, Važić.

Falcons started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Starters: Martinek - Tarrats, Motyčák, Maštalíř - Vodrážka, Al-Shamsi, Páleník, Golenko, Fürstenwärther - Kolbenschmidt, Kolevas.

Gradjanski showed off their creative tactics. J. Vodrážka would have preferred to play on, but his coach decided otherwise. P. Goethijn entered the game for Falcons as the match clock showed 2 minutes. A. Al-Shamsi received some harsh words from his coach after he acted foolishly 6 minutes into the match, probably out of lack of experience, and almost let an opponent score. At 19 minutes played, F. Šurbat came in from the right with the intention of giving Gradjanski the lead, but his rocket of a shot rattled the crossbar. There was concern in the stands when, at the 24 minute mark, Falcons's J. Motyčák hit the ground hard, but he refused the attention of the trainer and rejoined his teammates on the pitch. Falcons took the lead 35 minutes into the game, making the score 0 - 1 after some elegant movement down the middle. V. Maštalíř was the scorer. With 42 minutes played, after a good run down the left, F. Šurbat went down looking for a penalty after a challenge from the visitors' right fullback, but the referee waved play on, and later warned him for diving. The referee showed Gradjanski's R. Negro the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. A loud groan was heard from the fans of Falcons, as J. Motyčák left the pitch in too much pain to finish the match. L. Hašek took his place on the field. Halftime score was 0 - 1. Gradjanski claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 56 percent.

After 48 minutes, Falcons raised their score by one when K. Fürstenwärther's dangerous low cross was cleverly tucked in at the near post by T. Kolbenschmidt. 0 - 2. By now, the players in Falcons felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. With 54 minutes played, Falcons put themselves up 0 - 3 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. The scorer was T. Kolbenschmidt. A well placed corner kick from K. Fürstenwärther was followed by S. Golenko's hard but accurate header. The well executed routine resulted in a goal for Falcons, the score now 0 - 4. Content with how the game was proceeding, the Falcons coach let A. Mujica replace T. Kolbenschmidt after 70 minutes. 70 minutes into the match, Gradjanski's N. Važić collected a ball sent down the right and put it in the back of the net, narrowing the score to 1 - 4. Possession in this half belonged to Gradjanski, who controlled the ball 58 percent of the time.

R. Negro performed admirably for Gradjanski. On the other hand, P. Drãghici's play was disheartening. Most important Falcons player was A. Mujica. A. Al-Shamsi turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 1 - 4.