TAB 1 - 2 Horowhenua (392830639)

Weather conditions were fairly good for football, and The Vending Machine saw a crowd turnout of 1157. 許 (Xu) 永清 (Yongqing) was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Endre Simányi and Johnny Laursen. TAB started off with a 5-5-0 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Piticu - Safta, Prandoni, Rebouças, Rufolo, Băndărică - Ross, Martins Pinho, Michelatti, Datué, Culquicondor -.

A 4-4-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Horowhenua. Lineup: Uthurbide - Holland, Di Girolamo, Aslaxas, Moeke - Campos, Gąsiorek, Fuglsang, Nobbe - Akkaş, Harmand.

Horowhenua seemed to prefer attacking in the middle. 24 minutes in, Horowhenua's H. Akkaş received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. With 25 minutes played, H. Gąsiorek of Horowhenua fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. 34 minutes in, Horowhenua appeared unsure on how to play and their organisation was only solid. Horowhenua's F. Aslaxas managed to lose the defenders as he advanced down the right wing and scored, putting the visitors ahead after 36 minutes. 0 - 1. A well placed corner kick from S. Harmand was followed by R. Holland's hard but accurate header. The well executed routine resulted in a goal for Horowhenua, the score now 0 - 2. 41 minutes into the game, Horowhenua had difficulty finding their positions and their organisation dropped to passable. TAB supporters cheered as good work down the right got the ball to L. Martins Pinho who reduced the visitors' lead after 43 minutes to 1 - 2. It was 1 - 2 at the break. Neither team were able to dominate possession this half.

The coach gave his players an extra tactical briefing during the break, and after that Horowhenua had solid organisation. With 58 minutes played, S. Harmand 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. After 61 minutes, there was a bit of a mixup on the field as Horowhenua found themselves out of position and their organisation level dropped to inadequate. G. Rufolo's lack of experience almost gave Horowhenua a goal after 62 minutes, but the shot went right into the keeper's arms. TAB's L. Martins Pinho was shown a yellow card after 64 minutes for slicing down an opponent. Horowhenua came close to extending their lead as H. Akkaş delivered a low effort on goal from the right after 74 minutes, but the angle was too narrow and the shot went harmlessly into the side netting. Horowhenua claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 51 percent.

Most important TAB player was V. Datué. However, G. Rufolo made a disastrous appearance. H. Akkaş performed admirably for Horowhenua. Ó. Campos on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 1 - 2.