Nicorazia 0 - 4 SQUARTA (392818216)

Weather conditions were fairly good for football, and Pimpubino Stadium saw a crowd turnout of 32461. Yotam Zandberg was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Ulf H. Norrborg and Kasper Norrby. Nicorazia started off with a 5-3-2 lineup. The following players took the field: Arcella - Măgirescu, Raposo, Polyantsev, Bilertas, Goldschmidt - Parra, Tohmo, Bouw - Delaportella, Scardaccione.

A 2-5-3 alignment was the formation of choice for SQUARTA. They fielded: Elsensohn - Lundby, Straal - Cambareri, Küther, Egocheaga, Ávalos, Grigoraş - Sevgim, Brickman, Rainio.

Counter-attacking seemed to be the preferred strategy of Nicorazia. After 6 minutes, SQUARTA's E. Ávalos made his way through the middle and nonchalantly placed the ball out of the keeper's reach, putting the visitors up 0 - 1. R. Bilertas got left behind when SQUARTA's L. Brickman made a sudden run forward after 8 minutes, finishing off with a neat strike. 0 - 2! The coach of SQUARTA was happy with the game so far, but still wanted to change the line up. After 8 minutes, O. Dekhil came on for J. Lundby. L. Brickman was, after 17 minutes, almost able to extend the visitors' lead with a well placed diving header after the ball had looped into the centre, but the home side's keeper M. Arcella made the save. With 18 minutes gone, a long pass from the defence of Nicorazia resulted in a counterattack that set J. Parra free through the middle, but the keeper made a spectacular diving save. As G. Goldschmidt had, completely unprovoked, swept the legs out from under an opponent in front of a linesman, the referee gave the Nicorazia player a red card without batting an eyelid. In a fantastic display of determination, SQUARTA's S. Straal forced himself to his feet, after an opponent viciously knocked him down. G. Steimer was called on to replace Nicorazia's G. Raposo after 26 minutes following a nasty collision. S. Egocheaga sailed high above the opponents as he headed in a corner kick from S. Straal after 27 minutes of play, making the score 0 - 3. SQUARTA had a magnificent opportunity after 28 minutes as S. Egocheaga hit the ball hard from the edge of the penalty box. However, the shot went wide. The home side worked their way through the middle and almost got one back when A. Delaportella tried to sneak the ball past the keeper. G. Elsensohn was too alert for that! It was 0 - 3 at the break. Possession in this half belonged to SQUARTA, who controlled the ball 55 percent of the time.

A. Delaportella did everything he could to get one back for his Nicorazia, but keeper G. Elsensohn denied him with a spectacular block. 57 minutes in, SQUARTA's I. Grigoraş received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. A loud groan was heard from the fans of Nicorazia, as G. Steimer left the pitch in too much pain to finish the match. P. Coazo took his place on the field. After 62 minutes, an incisive pass through the middle gave E. Ávalos a chance to increase the lead for SQUARTA, and he did not disappoint. The score was then 0 - 4. At this point, it was obvious that the players of SQUARTA lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. After the ball was lifted in from the left, T. Sevgim was on his own in the home side's penalty area and should have scored after 63 minutes, but missed, probably due to lack of concentration. With 64 minutes gone, A. Bouw suddenly found himself completely free on the right wing when a counterattack by Nicorazia caught their opponents by surprise. Only a great save by the opposing keeper prevented him from scoring. SQUARTA had most of the ball, with 53 percent of possession.

A. Delaportella performed admirably for Nicorazia. On the other hand, M. Scardaccione's play was disheartening. The most dominating SQUARTA player was without a doubt L. Brickman. T. Sevgim was a disappointment, however. The match ends 0 - 4.