Clear skies welcomed the 1760 spectators who had made their way to Central stadium Zhytychi. Nenad Livadić was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Mattias Frederberg and Lukas Plenk. A 4-4-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Zhytychi. The following players had been chosen: Nad' - Litvin, Tkachenko, Bazhan, Motuzenko - Shelenin, Gäbel, Działo, Vrhovec - Koval, Muntianu.

cherkasy had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Leibholz - Håkansson, Lalomia, Miszke - Mrugalski, Oltean, Hagel, Costantino, Soler - Bernén, Ribeiro.

Counter-attacking seemed to be the preferred strategy of Zhytychi. cherkasy seemed to prefer attacking in the middle. cherkasy had a good opportunity to attack on the wing, but remembered their instructions to go for middle attacks. Zhytychi's G. Shelenin got himself booked for a foul. A well placed corner kick from M. Mrugalski was followed by N. Ribeiro's hard but accurate header. The well executed routine resulted in a goal for cherkasy, the score now 0 - 1. After 29 minutes, cherkasy's A. Bernén burst through the central defence and let loose a cannonball of a shot, scoring for 0 - 2. By now, the players in cherkasy felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. F. Oltean of cherkasy was booked for kicking the ball away after the whistle. O. Nad' got a fingertip on G. Miszke's shot from the left 33 minutes in, and managed to keep the visitors from going up another goal. 35 minutes into the game Zhytychi broke through on the left wing and P. Motuzenko managed to reduce the lead to 1 - 2. cherkasy's T. Leibholz left the field after 36 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was I. Tanasyuk. M. Tkachenko knocked one home from a counterattack down the right wing, making the score 2 - 2 after 39 minutes. It was 2 - 2 at the break. cherkasy enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 57 percent of possession.

Zhytychi's G. Shelenin refused to leave the field after injuring his achilles tendon after 52 minutes. Having been awarded a free kick in an awkward position after 54 minutes, Zhytychi did not go for a shot but instead fired the ball hard into the 6 yard box. After a brief tussle with his marker, I. Koval was able to power the ball past the keeper to make the score 3 - 2. Content with how the game was proceeding, the Zhytychi coach let P. Falch replace P. Litvin after 60 minutes. N. Gäbel wanted to play on, but the Zhytychi coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 65 minutes into the game by É. Aubry. Central attacks were the recipe of the day for cherkasy, as they moved the ball from the wings to the middle with startling regularity. The Zhytychi players could smell victory in the air. I. Koval wasn't in a hurry to leave the field as he was substituted for G. Gumenyuk after 70 minutes. V. Costantino finished off a quick charge from the left of the field by chipping the ball just past the home side's keeper, making the score 3 - 3 73 minutes into the match. N. Ribeiro had a good opportunity to give cherkasy the lead as he charged down the right and struck the ball towards the top corner, but the home team's goalkeeper made the save. A counterattack by Zhytychi after 76 minutes could have resulted in a goal, but A. Muntianu, coming in on the left, couldn't get the shot off. F. Oltean of cherkasy got sent off for kicking the ball after the whistle, a completely uncalled for move, earning him his second yellow card of the game. Neither team were able to dominate possession this half.

Zhytychi's top performer was clearly G. Gumenyuk. O. Bazhan turned in a dismal performance, however. cherkasy's best player was A. Bernén. I. Tanasyuk on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 3 - 3.