Shankly 1 - 3 Donners (393537647)

Weather conditions were fairly good for football, and JFT96 Memorial Stadium saw a crowd turnout of 1652. Gustavo Arín was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Mariano Mascareñas and Rob Höstlind. Shankly tactics involved an interesting 5-4-1 combination. Lineup: Pérez - Jahr, Stiegner, Stuttgarter, Sejersbøl, Valla - Blad, Soltvedt, Sollid, Gangkvist - Szymborski.

A 2-5-3 alignment was the formation of choice for Donners. The following players had been chosen: Eilsø - Pandini, Eilsø - Pricopi, Bakker, Hageland, Lund, Eilsø - Eilsø, Eilsø, Eilsø.

Donners's M. Lund gave the visitors a 0 - 1 lead after 2 minutes with a superb strike from the right. With 10 minutes played, seemingly due to lack of experience, J. Stiegner needlessly tripped an opponent just outside the penalty area, but the free kick that followed didn't succeed. After 11 minutes of play, D. Gangkvist equalised for Shankly after an elegant attack from the right. After 25 minutes, there was a bit of a mixup on the field as Donners found themselves out of position and their organisation level dropped to passable. The home crowd breathed a collective sigh of relief when M. Lund was unable to put the ball in the net after his show of skill down the left 33 minutes into the match. He was seen beating the pitch in frustration at missing such a good chance to give his team the lead! With 34 minutes gone, a long pass from the defence of Shankly resulted in a counterattack that set T. Szymborski free through the middle, but the keeper made a spectacular diving save. 37 minutes into the game, Donners had difficulty finding their positions and their organisation dropped to inadequate. A lovely run by Donners's J. Eilsø left his markers for dead and should have resulted in a goal, but the finish went just wide. Donners's E. Eilsø managed to lose the defenders as he advanced down the right wing and scored, putting the visitors ahead after 41 minutes. 1 - 2. The teams went for the halftime break at 1 - 2. Possession in this half belonged to Donners, who controlled the ball 54 percent of the time.

Despite his frustration resulting in the smashing of a few teacups, the coach of Donners was able to get his message across, and raised Donners's organisation to solid. The unexpected cross pass from Donners's E. Eilsø after 49 minutes opened up the defence and was received by S. Eilsø who finished off for 1 - 3. After this, you could see that the players of Donners were more interested in killing time than scoring more goals. After the ball was lifted in from the left, J. Eilsø was on his own in the home side's penalty area and should have scored after 61 minutes, but missed, probably due to lack of concentration. Donners came close to extending their lead as J. Eilsø delivered a low effort on goal from the right after 77 minutes, but the angle was too narrow and the shot went harmlessly into the side netting. With the clock showing 79 minutes played, a great pass from the defensive line of Shankly resulted in a counterattack that was smoothly brought under control by J. Stiegner in the centre of the opposition's penalty area, but his finish went high. Donners claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 57 percent.

Shankly's best player was T. Szymborski. On the other hand, G. Pérez's play was disheartening. Most important Donners player was E. Pricopi. J. Eilsø was a disappointment, however. The match ends 1 - 3.