Koninklijke 4 - 2 Fanatieke (378019901)

The 1187 fans in attendance at Space Dome were roasting in the hot sun. David Sánchez was the appointed referee. Koninklijke started off with a 3-4-3 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Salojärvi - Bourguignon, Szöllősi, Marlier - Kalamut, Bjørnsen, Röling, Zubalík - Slight, Kusé, Bert.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Fanatieke. Starters: Mirallas - Daeninck, Opsomer, Dutrieux - Hlobil, Slechten, Trandafir, Schilling, Annon - Van Eeckhoven, Hofmans.

Koninklijke seemed to prefer attacking in the middle. Slack defending gave Koninklijke a chance to take the lead with 26 minutes played, but P. Slight's cross from the left flank was fumbled in front of the goal and easily dealt with by the opposition. Several players seemed a little dazed by the warm weather, and were repeatedly tricked by the clever and agile I. Dutrieux. Koninklijke players heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their wing attacks to the middle instead. They were singing the praises of S. Bjørnsen 37 minutes into the match after his speculative chip from the middle of the penalty box found its way over the visitors' keeper to make the score 1 - 0 to Koninklijke. P. Bert increased the lead for Koninklijke to 2 - 0, getting a head onto a hooked ball from the right. The ball looked to have taken a deflection on the way in, but he's claiming it! 2 - 0 was the score after the first half. Possession in this half belonged to Koninklijke, who controlled the ball 58 percent of the time.

As usual, A. Szöllősi tried to use his strength and hard work for the benefit of the team, but the heat hit him hard and he couldn't keep pace at all. B. Mirallas was caught napping as A. Szöllősi lifted a ball over him following a free kick, but the ball hit the bar, rebounding into the keeper's arms. 73 minutes into the game, H. Salojärvi had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came G. Lepore. It was obvious that team Koninklijke had instructions to attack in the middle instead of on the wings. A magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Koninklijke's P. Bert increasing the lead to 3 - 0. After this, you could see that the players of Koninklijke were more interested in killing time than scoring more goals. The away team improved the scoreline to 3 - 1, as J. Slechten struck home, set up well by a play on the left 83 minutes into the match. Fanatieke certainly deserved a goal after some stunning play down the left, but I. Dutrieux just wasn't able to finish. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave M. Zubalík from Koninklijke a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 87 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! The visitors got one back when J. Daeninck finished off a pass from the left and scored after 88 minutes. 3 - 2 was the score. G. Bourguignon of Koninklijke received a yellow card after 88 minutes for unsportsmanlike behaviour. 89 minutes into the match, the visitors' central line of defence had to look on as F. Kusé broke through, making the score 4 - 2 for Koninklijke. Koninklijke claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 53 percent.

P. Bert performed admirably for Koninklijke. S. Bjørnsen was a disappointment, however. The most dominating Fanatieke player was without a doubt J. Van Eeckhoven. B. Mirallas on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 4 - 2.