Virtus 2 - 1 PenGuS (393904430)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 2892 at Talamo Stadium today. Antoni Woźniakiewicz was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Rudolf Eckhardstein and Rudi Gräfelfing. Virtus started off with a 5-3-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Casasola - Dudka, Młynarczyk, Yep, Leonforte, Thurnhuber - Omenazzo, Zuppiroli, Marrazzo - Buttazzo, Trombetti.

A 5-4-1 alignment was the formation of choice for PenGuS. The following players took the field: Barberini - Frühstück, Deschka, Ohlschmidt, Riede, Evens - Gronych, Biely, Urbanský, Hayes - Pichler.

The strategy for PenGuS was to use their ability to press. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave L. Buttazzo from Virtus a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 5 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! C. Hayes's speed was almost enough to give PenGuS a goal after 10 minutes, but his nice pass to J. Pichler was not taken care of properly. PenGuS's J. Evens managed to lose the defenders as he advanced down the right wing and scored, putting the visitors ahead after 13 minutes. 0 - 1. The referee showed PenGuS's D. Frühstück the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. M. Omenazzo of Virtus had to be helped off the pitch as an injury meant he was unable to finish the game. N. Gobbi came in to finish the match. PenGuS's talent at pressing frustrated the spectators as the game became a dire midfield struggle. PenGuS's C. Hayes had to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines, after twisting his ankle with 18 minutes having been played. K. Schellwitz was the replacement. It was 0 - 1 at the break. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by PenGuS, with 59 percent of the ball.

After 47 minutes, Virtus were awarded a free kick. Rather than shooting straight at goal, the taker went for an indirect variant which seemed to take his team mates a bit by surprise. L. Yep did attempt a finish, but from an awkward position, sending the ball into the away fans. With a shot curled in from just outside the middle of the penalty area after 75 minutes played, M. Trombetti of Virtus made the score 1 - 1. After 77 minutes, Virtus's L. Buttazzo fell awkwardly, but was determined to stay in the match. That's the spirit! Virtus's D. Thurnhuber got himself booked for a foul. A free kick aimed at the keeper's far post almost gave PenGuS the lead 81 minutes in, but the ball just wasn't able to squirm its way through the defensive wall. With 83 minutes played, the home side managed to get a 2 - 1 lead as M. Trombetti flipped the ball in after a cross from the right. Possession in this half belonged to PenGuS, who controlled the ball 52 percent of the time.

The most dominating Virtus player was without a doubt M. Trombetti. P. Casasola turned in a dismal performance, however. D. Frühstück performed admirably for PenGuS. However, S. Deschka made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 2 - 1.