Dolphin 3 - 2 stelo (393614185)

The weather was pretty good, and a crowd of 1630 had shown up at Le Valodrome for the match. Pacôme Huc was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Andreas Rauwolf and Darren Pavia. The match took place on neutral ground. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Dolphin. Lineup: Céspedes - Boorsma, Drukman, Ferradás - Fayn, Dražnik, Palma, Braun, Gerbier - Taivalkoski, Kampl.

stelo started off with a 2-5-3 lineup. They fielded: Ramaekers - Iannuzzi, Ballestrini - Castro, Viseur, Maraš, Milante, Journot - Buuk, Dubernard, Truţescu.

The visitors' central defence should have had no trouble clearing the pass to Q. Braun, but the Dolphin player managed to shrug them off and fired a low shot past the keeper to give his team the lead. 1 - 0! 17 minutes into the game stelo's B. Buuk found a gap in the home side's central defence and scored with a fabulous shot, making it 1 - 1. After 19 minutes a well-practised indirect free kick routine by Dolphin was easily anticipated by the defenders. The players forward were so well marked, they were left with few viable options. Halftime score was 1 - 1. stelo claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 53 percent.

The home crowd breathed a collective sigh of relief when V. Maraš was unable to put the ball in the net after his show of skill down the left 54 minutes into the match. He was seen beating the pitch in frustration at missing such a good chance to give his team the lead! A questionable penalty 55 minutes in gave the home side the lead, 2 - 1. The visitors' goalie didn't stand a chance as K. Gerbier knocked the ball home. K. Gerbier almost put Dolphin ahead another goal when he curled a free kick over the defensive wall and almost into the net, but the visitors' keeper got there just in time to knock it wide. stelo tied it all up, 61 minutes in, after a spectacular goal by J. Ballestrini, who miraculously broke through the home side's central defence, making it 2 - 2. 68 minutes into the game, J. Ballestrini had a great chance to put his team ahead, but his kick from the left went wide. Dolphin fans held their breath as Q. Braun scampered down the left side. He successfully avoided all challenges and cracked home the shot for 3 - 2! Although the whole team were struggling to impress, stelo's D. Viseur was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 70 minutes. G. Andorsen was given a chance to change things around. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by stelo, with 56 percent of the ball.

R. Dražnik performed admirably for Dolphin. A. Taivalkoski was a disappointment, however. The most dominating stelo player was without a doubt G. Andorsen. On the other hand, V. Maraš's play was disheartening. The match ends 3 - 2.