Benzinac 2 - 2 plehan (382620264)

A brilliantly sunny day had enticed a crowd of 48756 to Ayrton Senna & Nikola Tesla Memorial Arena. Leif Luukas was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Johan Cardeynaels and Tage Sauer. The derby had been the talk of Banja Luka all week and fans of both teams could be seen throughout the stadium. Benzinac tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. They fielded: Mommers - Szczęsny, Cabeça, Rahkola - Mårtensson, Prusac, Cannarsa, Spaić, Dashin - Podgornykh, Vestvik.

plehan had chosen a strategic 4-5-1 formation. Starters: Lazio - Pauke, Hradiský, Salhab, Festorazzi - Friaxe, Baćović, Križić, Jensen, Bustos - Walenkamp.

It was an obvious ambition of Benzinac to use their ability at attacking on the flanks. plehan were relying on their ability to counter-attack. Making his way up the middle 4 minutes into the match, R. Podgornykh almost managed to squeeze a goal past the visitors' keeper, but the alert G. Lazio blocked it to keep the score level. Attacking on the wings was the choice for Benzinac, and they were successfully passing the ball from the middle to the wings to attack. Benzinac broke through on the left 28 minutes into the game, with S. Szczęsny firing in from an acute angle to give the home side a 1 - 0 lead. plehan almost scored after a counterattack 30 minutes into the match, but R. Friaxe took a shot from the left that landed harmlessly in the side of the net. 1 - 0 was the halftime score. Benzinac claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 57 percent.

The suddenness of the Benzinac's A. Prusac's pass to R. Podgornykh after 48 minutes caught the opposition wrong-footed, and they could only watch as the ball sailed home for 2 - 0. Morale on the visitors' bench was greatly improved when their U. Baćović reduced the lead to make it 2 - 1 after 53 minutes, following a pass from the right. The plehan players listened closely to their manager, as he gave new tactical instructions for the team. F. Cannarsa had a fantastic opportunity to put Benzinac up another goal 67 minutes into the match, but he fired just over the crossbar. After 77 minutes a very unfortunate collision in the penalty area led to plehan's E. Hradiský being carried off the pitch and replaced by Y. Rimon. Benzinac's J. Mårtensson left the field after 80 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was B. Serdar. K. Dashin wasn't much help defensively. His energy-consuming forward runs proved quite costly in the oppressive heat. C. Jensen tied the game at 2 - 2 after 83 minutes, when he converted an incredible pass from the right. V. Križić enjoyed the sunshine and demonstrated his stunning technique over and over again. Benzinac enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 55 percent of possession.

T. Vestvik performed admirably for Benzinac. C. Cabeça was a disappointment, however. plehan's best player was V. Križić. However, R. Friaxe made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 2 - 2.