Rovers 4 - 4 Lightnings (374449778)

41516 punters turned up at The Rovers Den, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came. Kjell Borsheim was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Roger Josefsson and Samy Delalandre. Rovers tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Starters: Barradas - Browne, Filipova, Baranskiy - Curran, Sharp, Parry, O'Connor, Moore - Stienstra, Gortari.

Lightnings had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Silfwermo - Karikko, Wolbrink, Jangaziev - Coutts, Weiss, Ráth, Grainger, Abu Hmaid - Fleetwood, Cantoni.

For their match strategy, Lightnings had decided to use their ability to counter-attack whenever possible. The celebrations in the stands could only mean one thing - M. Gortari's free kick had found the back of the net and put Rovers ahead 1 - 0! Some lightning fast two foot dribbles by G. Cantoni left A. Filipova way behind after 18 minutes, but the shot was just wide. After 30 minutes, a well-worked counterattack by Lightnings on the right presented an easy opportunity in front of the goal that was duly converted by W. Weiss to make it 1 - 1. The terraces were silenced after 31 minutes when Lightnings's W. Weiss put the guests ahead 1 - 2, following an attack on the right. It was showtime for artist G. Cantoni who showed off his technical mastery when he rounded V. Baranskiy and finished with a goal to make the score 1 - 3. N. Abu Hmaid's early cross saw the defenders caught out of position and the alert B. Fleetwood was able to pounce and roll the ball past the hapless goalkeeper to score for Lightnings. 1 - 4. Rovers didn't give in and with 39 minutes played L. Curran was able to make the score 2 - 4 after an attack on the right. The teams went for the halftime break at 2 - 4. Possession in this half belonged to Rovers, who controlled the ball 65 percent of the time.

Rovers refused to be intimidated and, breaking through the middle, K. Stienstra managed to slip the ball home for 3 - 4. The crowd chanted their encouragement as Rovers's W. Browne came in from the right after 78 minutes and put the ball in the net to level the score at 4 - 4. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave P. Parry from Rovers a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 84 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! 85 minutes into the match, the referee signalled for a Lightnings substitution. E. Bouman came on for M. Ráth. As the 86 minute mark approached, the Lightnings coach decided it was time for a substitution. N. Abu Hmaid reluctantly made way for M. Campsor on the pitch. Rovers claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 68 percent.

The most dominating Rovers player was without a doubt D. Sharp. M. Gortari was a disappointment, however. Lightnings's top performer was clearly B. Fleetwood. On the other hand, J. Coutts's play was disheartening. The match ends 4 - 4.