Lovatori 1 - 6 Strikers (393801312)

3834 punters turned up at Arena izgubljenih listića, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came. Davut Selçuk was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Gaudenzio Visentin and Leontiy Fedotko. Lovatori decided to use a 3-4-3 set up. The following players had been chosen: Sotirov - Gareis, Lapczyk, Roda - Jauset, Dolšak, Žmikić, Torretta - Krvavica, Romić, Giriček.

Strikers started off with a 3-4-3 lineup. They fielded: Recabarren - Puigferrer, Bayr, Bahnsen - Delgado, Pietzsch, Löben, Sanders - Mcdonald, Nowitsky, Esqueda.

After 3 minutes, Strikers's B. Nowitsky made his way through the middle and nonchalantly placed the ball out of the keeper's reach, putting the visitors up 0 - 1. After 30 minutes a well-practised indirect free kick routine by Strikers was easily anticipated by the defenders. The players forward were so well marked, they were left with few viable options. With the crowd on their feet chanting wildly, some great moves down the right hand side after 35 minutes gave Lovatori a wonderful opportunity to level the score, and R. Romić stepped up to the challenge. 1 - 1 With 36 minutes played, K. Pietzsch of Strikers fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. At the 37 minute mark, it looked like the opportunity for Strikers to score had been missed until T. Sanders suddenly worked his way clear and fired off a spectacular shot. The keeper had no chance! 1 - 2. After 38 minutes, an incisive pass through the middle gave B. Nowitsky a chance to increase the lead for Strikers, and he did not disappoint. The score was then 1 - 3. 1 - 3 was the halftime score. Possession in this half belonged to Strikers, who controlled the ball 57 percent of the time.

Some fine movement on the left led to a Strikers goal after 51 minutes, making it 1 - 4. E. Löben was noted down as the scorer. After 69 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for M. Mcdonald who increased Strikers's lead to 1 - 5. M. Mcdonald received a delicate pass through the home side's central defence after 70 minutes, and chipped it past the flailing keeper to score making it 1 - 6. The Strikers fans went wild, whilst the home fans started to think about leaving early. The players of Strikers now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. Lovatori's W. Lapczyk refused to leave the field after injuring his achilles tendon after 74 minutes. Strikers had most of the ball, with 57 percent of possession.

Most important Lovatori player was G. Torretta. W. Lapczyk on the other hand, had a terrible day. M. Mcdonald performed admirably for Strikers. On the other hand, M. Bahnsen's play was disheartening. The match ends 1 - 6.