Spritès 1 - 4 SPAL (393484872)

The 882 spectators at Spritès Avenue were in for an afternoon of sunshine. Lothar Thümmler was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Roffe Larsson and Odisseas Skarmpatonis. Spritès tactics involved an interesting 5-3-2 combination. Starters: Magonara - Hörlund, Stefanelli, Asri, da Costa, van Meeuwen - Mohd Umar, Alauddin, Idrus - An Loong, Hamas.

A 4-4-2 alignment was the formation of choice for SPAL. The following players had been chosen: Rizzuto - Campbell, Liolidis, Betschy, De Gennaro - Leduc, Dali, Fiano, Minicucci - Pérez, Lenza.

Counter-attacking seemed to be the preferred strategy of Spritès. Having just succeeded in blocking a dangerous counter attack, the defending team was outwitted by the follow-up SPAL free kick. The routine was expertly executed as the ball was shifted quickly to one side of the box, then back to the other. F. Minicucci appeared on cue near the post, and steered it past the goalie. 0 - 1, after 18 minutes. F. Minicucci increased the visitors' lead by putting a volley away after a pass from the right. 0 - 2. 26 minutes into the game, SPAL had difficulty finding their positions and their organisation dropped to inadequate. There was concern in the stands when, at the 34 minute mark, Spritès's M. An Loong hit the ground hard, but he refused the attention of the trainer and rejoined his teammates on the pitch. 39 minutes into the match, the visitors put themselves ahead 0 - 3 as F. Minicucci finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. That was his third goal of the match - a hat trick for F. Minicucci. A penalty was missed by SPAL's F. Leduc 43 minutes into the match. Probably overconfident, he blasted a hard shot miles outside of the left post. Some fine movement on the left led to a SPAL goal after 44 minutes, making it 0 - 4. C. Pérez was noted down as the scorer. By now, the players in SPAL felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. 0 - 4 was the score after the first half. SPAL had most of the ball, with 62 percent of possession.

The coach gave his players an extra tactical briefing during the break, and after that SPAL had solid organisation. Good work by the Spritès defensive line after 49 minutes produced a good counterattack chance, which cut elegantly down the middle of the pitch and found K. Idrus alone in front of the goal, but his shot whistled just wide. After 56 minutes, there was a bit of a mixup on the field as SPAL found themselves out of position and their organisation level dropped to passable. After 57 minutes, M. Dali made a complete fool of himself when he presented the ball to the feet of K. Idrus who smashed it into the open goal for Spritès. 1 - 4. M. Dali wanted to play on, but the SPAL coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 60 minutes into the game by O. Oskarsson. The coach of SPAL was happy with the game so far, but still wanted to change the line up. After 60 minutes, L. Sáenz Camacho came on for F. Leduc. Spritès's defence sent a ball soaring up the middle on a beautiful counterattack with 79 minutes gone, but J. van Meeuwen's finish was met by the reaching hands of the keeper. F. Minicucci could have put his team up another goal 82 minutes into the game, after a rush down the left, but his closing shot hit the post. Possession in this half belonged to SPAL, who controlled the ball 70 percent of the time.

M. Hamas performed admirably for Spritès. S. Mohd Umar was a disappointment, however. SPAL's top performer was clearly O. Oskarsson. F. Minicucci on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 1 - 4.