Voličina1979 3 - 2 MAENI (393804317)

The crowd of 3788 turning up at Arena heroja Dejana today were greeted with some nasty showers of rain. Horst Zauner was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Eemil Leppäniemi and Radosław Milewicz. Voličina1979 decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. They fielded: Koban - Eiras, Nieznalski, Piko - Holm, Završan, Mladenović, Nežmoh, Nikulin - Peterc, Radeljak.

MAENI started off with a 4-5-1 lineup. Starters: Popescu - Nørskov, Viallard, Guigue, Nille - Urheim, Dietz, De Marco, Meuri, Spangler - Botzler.

E. Urheim neatly controlled the ball after a short corner, and knocked it on to F. Meuri who had the whole net open before him, but only managed to hit the post. G. Viallard was uncomfortable with the soggy pitch as he couldn't move the ball around with his usual grace. Slack defending gave Voličina1979 a chance to take the lead with 34 minutes played, but L. Mladenović's cross from the left flank was fumbled in front of the goal and easily dealt with by the opposition. After a fine move down the middle B. Peterc nearly gave the home side a goal after 37 minutes. However the finishing shot went just wide. E. Urheim of MAENI received a yellow card after 38 minutes for unsportsmanlike behaviour. 39 minutes of the match played, and a comedy of errors by the home side gave the visitors a chance at the lead, but P. Nørskov, after finding himself dashing down on goal from the left with only the keeper to beat, sliced his shot horribly wide. 44 minutes into the game, J. Piko had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came R. Vidner. Halftime score was 0 - 0. Possession in this half belonged to Voličina1979, who controlled the ball 55 percent of the time.

46 minutes into the game, MAENI wanted to bring some new energy to their game. T. Guigue gave G. Theler a quick hug as he left the field. After a savage shot that could only be parried by the keeper, T. Radeljak demonstrated his experience by being in just the right place to slot home the rebound. His goal for Voličina1979 47 minutes into the match made the score 1 - 0. With 61 minutes played, the MAENI coach decided a substitution may help turn the game around. J. Leal came on, L. Botzler had to leave the fray. C. Popescu was the new captain of MAENI - handed the armband by the departing player. E. Urheim tied the game at 1 - 1 after 62 minutes, when he converted an incredible pass from the right. Voličina1979 took the lead, 2 - 1, after a penalty 63 minutes into the match. P. Nieznalski scored from the penalty spot. Although the whole team were struggling to impress, MAENI's C. Popescu was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 65 minutes. N. Marroig was given a chance to change things around. The MAENI captaincy was handed to J. Leal. G. Nikulin left the field with a smile on his face as he was substituted 70 minutes into the game, as his team was in the lead. N. Nedergaard was the replacement. The Voličina1979 players could smell victory in the air. P. Nieznalski wasn't in a hurry to leave the field as he was substituted for S. Simonšek after 76 minutes. MAENI tied it all up, 78 minutes in, after a spectacular goal by F. Meuri, who miraculously broke through the home side's central defence, making it 2 - 2. Priding himself in being an active coach, the Voličina1979 manager gave new instructions to his players after 80 minutes. At 80 minutes played, A. Nežmoh came in from the right with the intention of giving Voličina1979 the lead, but his rocket of a shot rattled the crossbar. Voličina1979 had most of the ball, with 57 percent of possession.

With the scores being level after 90 minutes, the match went into extra time. N. Nedergaard's early cross saw the defenders caught out of position and the alert T. Radeljak was able to pounce and roll the ball past the hapless goalkeeper to score for Voličina1979. 3 - 2. What a dramatic win for Voličina1979! Voličina1979's best player was N. Nedergaard. S. Simonšek was a disappointment, however. The most dominating MAENI player was without a doubt F. Meuri. G. Viallard turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 3 - 2.