Artwoods 1 - 2 itos fc (65298883)

244 spectators had found their way to Barbara Ann, despite the heavy rain. Artwoods had been instructed to play in a 3-4-3 formation by their coach this week. The lucky starting players: Ginés - Sagarra, Corral, Cely - Vázquez, Urquijo, Gómez de Terán, de Hinojosa - Contador, Saurín, Cabañero.

itos fc wanted to try the 3-5-2 system in this game. The picks for today were: Necşoiu - Estrader, Mena, Bovio - Pidal, Ceular, Lomuscio, Vies, Martínez - Alén, Cruilles.

Artwoods concentrated their attacks to the middle of the field today. With 11 minutes played, M. Pidal looked all grown up as he hit a powerful shot at goal from the middle of the D, missing it by an inch. X. Vies was heard grumbling about the soggy pitch and it was soon clear it was also adversely impacting his game. Several mothers standing on the sideline felt the referee was much too lenient when he only showed C. Gómez de Terán of Artwoods a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 24 minutes into the game. The player down was R. Bovio. The itos fc coach looked concerned for a while, but finally the player managed to get up and play on. N. Urquijo's lack of experience almost gave itos fc a goal after 28 minutes, but the shot went right into the keeper's arms. While many family and friends had gathered under a nearby garage roof, sipping coffee, the boys on the field were exposed to the forces of nature and these were as rough as the atmosphere on the pitch. J. Alén showed great heart however, and had a good game. A. Ginés was beaming with pride after 31 minutes, as he dived full length and stopped a shot by the visitors' J. Alén. The referee confirmed the score as 0 - 0 when he signalled for the halftime break. Artwoods didn't seem to want to give the ball away in this half, which resulted in 57 percent of the possession.

After 73 minutes, M. Ceular was the target in a rapid counterattack move. He timed his run down the right wing perfectly, making the score 0 - 1. itos fc's D. Martínez got himself booked after a foul. After 75 minutes, a mistake by the home side's left defence allowed J. Cruilles to get through. He made the home side's keeper look like the rookie he is, and added another goal for the visitors. 0 - 2. N. Urquijo struggled to get the ball in for the Artwoods boys, but his low, devious volley was blocked by C. Necşoiu. Having turned the direction of play quickly, the itos fc counter attack ended as the ball carrier was brought down violently by a defender after 82 minutes. The resulting free kick was a flat shot into the area just in front of the keeper. However, the defence were on their toes and did not allow the opponents to reach the ball. Thanks to a beautiful combination in midfield, I. Corral managed to reduce the score to 1 - 2 for Artwoods. Many spectators missed the beautiful goal, instead engrossed in a discussion on suburban house prices. In this half Artwoods were the most energetic, keeping the ball to themselves for 57 percent of the time.

The spectators agreed that the most impressive boy in Artwoods today had been E. Cely. J. Sagarra needs a lot of extra training, however. itos fc's J. Cruilles had a great game and was congratulated by his team mates. This lad could be going places! The coach took C. Estrader aside after the game, telling him it is okay to have a bad day on the pitch as long as you keep trying. The match ends with a 1 - 2 score.