Ludiville 3 - 1 Panthers (393749606)

1159 spectators had come to Alley Way this cloudy day. Ivica Glaser was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Timoteo Portugal and Jan Løland. Ludiville started off with a 5-4-1 lineup. Lineup: Rossi - Liekut, Pastoris, Schnetgöcke, Brommont, Ruppen - Jusinger, Lamas, Beilin, Palmieri - Guistel.

Panthers tactics involved an interesting 2-5-3 combination. They fielded: Franchini - Iglesias, Cubells - Castle, Manara, Angillis, Patricelli, Treichler - Kopanidis, de Stefani, Perricone.

Given a free kick in a difficult position after 8 minutes, Ludiville tried a variation that they had practised in training. The kick was sent into the area just in front of the keeper. However, the defence were on their toes and allowed no space for a finish. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, M. Beilin got himself booked. The manager of Ludiville was not happy. G. Ruppen received some harsh words from his coach after he acted foolishly 24 minutes into the match, probably out of lack of experience, and almost let an opponent score. The home side put themselves ahead 1 - 0 after 29 minutes courtesy of a breakthrough from C. Brommont, who scored with a stunning volley following a cross from the right wing. After 39 minutes a well-practised indirect free kick routine by Ludiville was easily anticipated by the defenders. The players forward were so well marked, they were left with few viable options. 41 minutes into the game Panthers's A. Perricone found a gap in the home side's central defence and scored with a fabulous shot, making it 1 - 1. It was 1 - 1 at the break. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Ludiville, with 68 percent of the ball.

Ludiville took the lead 49 minutes into the game by 2 - 1, as G. Ruppen elegantly received a long range pass through the middle, finishing off with a half-volley shot just below the bar. Ludiville increased the lead as F. Jusinger struck to make the score 3 - 1 after an attack from the left left him unmarked in front of the keeper. The players of Ludiville now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. Ludiville's J. Guistel got himself booked for a foul. Unfortunately for Panthers, E. de Stefani was injured when the game became more physical, and he had to leave the field. O. Selkee replaced him. J. Angillis was handed the Panthers captain's armband. Ludiville had most of the ball, with 71 percent of possession.

J. Guistel performed admirably for Ludiville. S. Rossi turned in a dismal performance, however. The most dominating Panthers player was without a doubt O. Selkee. On the other hand, F. Franchini's play was disheartening. The match ends 3 - 1.