United 0 - 2 Hereford (392764700)

Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 363 to Argos Arena. Børge Thorsgaard was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Ignacio Ybarra and Ivo Pešl. United started off with a 4-5-1 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Nepi - Da Vinci, Baldazzi, Serafini, Bertalan - Woudstra, Salvini, Jordà, Skogén, Schütze-Meyer - Bistocchi.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Hereford. The following players took the field: Duero - Cascasona, López, Serrano - Bilbao Ubillos, Cabiativa, Lozanov, Díaz, Rostoll - Bagnoli, Gezginer.

United seemed to prefer attacking in the middle. It was an obvious ambition of Hereford to use their ability at attacking on the flanks. Some things can only be learned through experience, and J. Serrano should take his lesson to heart after nearly gifting United a goal with 3 minutes of the match played. With 33 minutes played, H. Gezginer of Hereford fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. A. Bagnoli had a good try after 41 minutes, coming in on a fine move from the left, but the ball went wide. The home crowd breathed a collective sigh of relief when I. Lozanov was unable to put the ball in the net after his show of skill down the left 42 minutes into the match. He was seen beating the pitch in frustration at missing such a good chance to give his team the lead! A penalty was given after 43 minutes, allowing the visitors to gain the lead: 0 - 1. E. López was the scorer. United's T. Baldazzi was shown a yellow card after 43 minutes for slicing down an opponent. It was 0 - 1 at the break. Hereford enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 56 percent of possession.

United's counterattacks created a good chance for J. Schütze-Meyer on the right after 52 minutes, but he could only look on with dismay as his strike rebounded off the crossbar. Having been awarded a free kick in an awkward position after 69 minutes, Hereford did not go for a shot but instead fired the ball hard into the 6 yard box. After a brief tussle with his marker, A. Bagnoli was able to power the ball past the keeper to make the score 0 - 2. The players of Hereford now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. With 70 minutes played, H. Gezginer nearly put the visitors another one up as he broke through in the middle and fired from just outside the box, but his shot passed just over the bar. Hereford had most of the ball, with 58 percent of possession.

A. Da Vinci performed admirably for United. J. Schütze-Meyer turned in a dismal performance, however. The most dominating Hereford player was without a doubt L. Bilbao Ubillos. F. Duero was a disappointment, however. The match ends 0 - 2.