melero 0 - 7 Esclanya (393759212)

Dark skies made the crowd of 1059 at Benito Camela Stadium a little nervous, but the rain held off. Emanuel Rotberg was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Harry Daniels and Nick Henley. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for melero. The following players had been chosen: Melero - García Casielles, Fernández Muras, Montiu - Gilbert, del Río, Angosto, Cimorra, Mompó - Anozibar, Arrieta.

Esclanya had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Starters: Sequeira - Rabaldiz, Mañón, Rojas - Esteban, Rodríguez Roldán, Freijoso, Lacalle Tejada, Utribe - Posquieres, Aguiar.

It was an obvious ambition of melero to use their ability at attacking on the flanks. A mistake by the home side's central defence after 19 minutes allowed V. Rabaldiz to score for Esclanya. The scoreboard now read 0 - 1. The home crowd was not impressed when V. Posquieres came in from the right, shooting hard to score after 21 minutes. Esclanya were now up 0 - 2. I. Arrieta has acquired a talent for predicting the movements of the opposing defence over the years and this almost resulted in a goal 28 minutes into the match. 39 minutes into the match, the visitors put themselves ahead 0 - 3 as R. Utribe finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. After 41 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for D. Mañón who increased Esclanya's lead to 0 - 4. 0 - 4 was the score after the first half. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Esclanya, with 54 percent of the ball.

With 49 minutes played, a quick exchange of passes on the left wing freed V. Aguiar of Esclanya to slip through the defence and score another goal for the visitors. That made the score 0 - 5. By now, the players in Esclanya felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. Some fine movement on the left led to a Esclanya goal after 65 minutes, making it 0 - 6. H. Rojas was noted down as the scorer. With 79 minutes played, R. Lacalle Tejada of Esclanya fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. After 80 minutes, an incisive pass through the middle gave R. Utribe a chance to increase the lead for Esclanya, and he did not disappoint. The score was then 0 - 7. V. Rabaldiz came close to extending the visitors' lead when he found himself completely unmarked in front of the goal after a pass through the middle. He tried to lift the ball over M. Melero but overcooked it and hit the bar instead. Esclanya had most of the ball, with 53 percent of possession.

I. Montiu performed admirably for melero. S. Gilbert turned in a dismal performance, however. The most dominating Esclanya player was without a doubt V. Posquieres. However, J. Rodríguez Roldán made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 0 - 7.