Tiikerit 1 - 2 Reiskat (393402797)

It was an exceptionally sunny day for the crowd of 45000 that came out to Reilu Valinta™ Areena. Alberto Gil was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Johan Wahlwald and Kamilis Junermanas. Tiikerit had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Starters: Meier - Piazzolla, Koskinen, Scolozzi - Cadavide, Kauppila, Kukko, Vergnani, Berghäll - Parkkinen, Torres.

A 5-4-1 alignment was the formation of choice for Reiskat. The following players took the field: Resiga - Emsis, Alba, Järvinen, Klotz, Volkov - Selenić, Podda, Limma, Mozart - Said.

It was an obvious ambition of Tiikerit to use their ability at attacking on the flanks. The wings were the focus of most of Reiskat's attacks today. After 33 minutes Tiikerit's N. Berghäll contracted a slight foot injury, but didn't want to leave the game. 37 minutes into the match and the home team took a 1 - 0 lead after breaking through on the left. The scorer for Tiikerit was N. Berghäll. A. Kauppila of Tiikerit was booked for kicking the ball away after the whistle. I. Öhman was called on to replace Tiikerit's A. Torres after 40 minutes following a nasty collision. R. Järvinen's lack of experience almost gave Tiikerit a goal after 41 minutes, but the shot went right into the keeper's arms. Halftime score was 1 - 0. Reiskat had most of the ball, with 52 percent of possession.

The coach of Tiikerit was happy with the game so far, but still wanted to change the line up. After 48 minutes, E. Salsoila came on for F. Scolozzi. The visitors refused to give in and, after 59 minutes, R. Emsis evened things up as he finished off a perfect pass from the right. 1 - 1 Tiikerit were determined to attack on the wing and their central attempts were constantly abandoned in favour of the wings. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave J. Kukko from Tiikerit a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 61 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! Players in Reiskat heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their central attacks to the wings instead. 70 minutes into the game, Reiskat wanted to bring some new energy to their game. A. Selenić gave S. Comes-Franchini a quick hug as he left the field. 85 minutes into the match, the referee signalled for a Reiskat substitution. B. Márk came on for B. Said. After 86 minutes, the Tiikerit coach wanted to see a new face on the pitch, waving N. Berghäll off the field. E. Enroth took his place. Possession in this half belonged to Reiskat, who controlled the ball 52 percent of the time.

As neither team was able to break the deadlock before the end of regular play, the teams took to the field again for extra time. Reiskat's P. Klotz got himself booked for a foul. The guests almost went up by a goal after 110 minutes when R. Järvinen came through and shot from the right. The ball bounced harmlessly off the post, though. It was obvious that Reiskat had instructions to attack on the wings instead of in the middle. Reiskat's S. Comes-Franchini gave the visitors a 1 - 2 lead after 112 minutes with a superb strike from the right. With that Reiskat had won the game in extra time. Tiikerit's top performer was clearly A. Kauppila. I. Öhman was a disappointment, however. Most important Reiskat player was T. Mozart. However, R. Järvinen made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 1 - 2.