Smokers 0 - 8 Viola (393018114)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 40014 at Jim Morrison Park today. Juan Bugallo was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Jerry Leijonstad and Daniel Cambronero. A 2-5-3 alignment was the formation of choice for Smokers. Lineup: Nicolo' - Stobnicki, Madini - Bozza, Contarello, Nappa, Ruiz Díaz, Tiddia - De Gennaro, Circolo, Lullin.

Viola had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Starters: Buffon - Aversano, Blardone, Moosegger - Mandragallo, Fasano, Pestarino, Carluccio, Marta - Maranga, Perra.

Smokers tried to focus their attacks down the middle. Viola clearly preferred using their ability to attack in the middle. After 12 minutes, Viola put themselves up 0 - 1, as G. Perra finished off a strike from the left with a real cannonball of a shot. F. Carluccio of Viola took advantage of a mistake on the home side's right after 19 minutes which increased the away team's lead to 0 - 2. With 25 minutes played, a quick exchange of passes on the left wing freed S. Maranga of Viola to slip through the defence and score another goal for the visitors. That made the score 0 - 3. 0 - 3 was the halftime score. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Viola, with 67 percent of the ball.

46 minutes in, Viola's S. Maranga received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. 47 minutes into the game, Viola were awarded a penalty and C. Mandragallo was able to increase the visitors' lead to 0 - 4 rolling the ball in by the right post. At this point, it was obvious that the players of Viola lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. It was obvious that team Viola had instructions to attack in the middle instead of on the wings. After 52 minutes, an incisive pass through the middle gave G. Perra a chance to increase the lead for Viola, and he did not disappoint. The score was then 0 - 5. A drive down the left side allowed S. Maranga to get in close and score another goal for Viola after 54 minutes, taking the score to 0 - 6. Viola had a good opportunity to attack on the wing, but remembered their instructions to go for middle attacks. After 72 minutes, Viola's M. Blardone burst through the central defence and let loose a cannonball of a shot, scoring for 0 - 7. Viola's M. Aversano left the field after 73 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was B. Conner. B. Conner became the new Viola captain. G. Perra received a delicate pass through the home side's central defence after 78 minutes, and chipped it past the flailing keeper to score making it 0 - 8. The Viola fans went wild, whilst the home fans started to think about leaving early. By then G. Perra had scored three goals - a hat trick! Possession in this half belonged to Viola, who controlled the ball 68 percent of the time.

The most dominating Smokers player was without a doubt F. Ruiz Díaz. L. Nicolo' was a disappointment, however. G. Perra performed admirably for Viola. However, B. Conner made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 0 - 8.