MARSJU 5 - 2 Karpaty (378956460)

The weather was pretty good, and a crowd of 7197 had shown up at Bloody Field for the match. Aaron Marsch was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Joseph Zeitler and Magnus Fal. MARSJU tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Lineup: Williams - Cherry, Perriard, Boratyński - Mierzwa, Jäger, Rowan, Finucane, Skøtt - Crookshank, Giles.

A 2-5-3 alignment was the formation of choice for Karpaty. They fielded: Gruzinskiy - Paulsson, Luka - Drouen, Cihandar, Buksa, Khrennikov, Golopisenko - Fodor, Szałwiński, Żakowiecki.

Today, Karpaty's strategy involved concentrating on the flanks for their attacks. After 21 minutes of play, the free-spirited B. Skøtt decided to go for goal as he struck the ball from the corner of the pitch. The ball hit a defender in the face and bounced out of play. N. Rowan gave MARSJU the lead as he successfully challenged the guests' central defenders, then slotted the ball into the bottom corner, giving the keeper no chance. 1 - 0 G. Crookshank's speed was clear to see after 30 minutes, as he darted down the wing and released D. Giles who placed the ball into the back of the net to make the score 2 - 0. At this point, it was obvious that the players of MARSJU lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. MARSJU increased the lead as N. Rowan struck to make the score 3 - 0 after an attack from the left left him unmarked in front of the keeper. After 38 minutes, Karpaty sent a free kick in high over the penalty box. In what looked like a well-rehearsed move, the ball was headed backwards and reached J. Fodor, who had plenty of space to place a well aimed shot - 3 - 1. The home side's D. Giles came close to extending the lead 40 minutes into the game. His shot came in from the right hand side but D. Gruzinskiy managed to save it with an unbelievable reaction stop. The teams went for the halftime break at 3 - 1. MARSJU had most of the ball, with 65 percent of possession.

MARSJU put in a good effort on the right, but O. Jäger saw his volley fly wide of the mark 50 minutes into the game. D. Giles left the field with a smile on his face as he was substituted 70 minutes into the game, as his team was in the lead. P. Lucas was the replacement. After 72 minutes, T. Perriard put MARSJU ahead 4 - 1 when he rose to head in a cross from the right wing. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave D. Golopisenko from Karpaty a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 84 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! 86 minutes into the game, J. Fodor had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came S. Kriventsov. The suddenness of the Karpaty's T. Szałwiński's pass to D. Golopisenko after 87 minutes caught the opposition wrong-footed, and they could only watch as the ball sailed home for 4 - 2. After 88 minutes, the away team failed to deal with a good exchange of passes on the right, and B. Skøtt gave the MARSJU supporters even more to cheer about when he increased the lead to 5 - 2. MARSJU enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 65 percent of possession.

Most important MARSJU player was P. Lucas. A. Boratyński turned in a dismal performance, however. Karpaty's best player was S. Kriventsov. However, D. Khrennikov made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 5 - 2.