Smrkci 2 - 1 KELT (382733269)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 64325 at Smrkci Arena today. Rieks Vleeschhouwer was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Peter Olsson and Sergio Pinga. Smrkci had chosen a strategic 4-5-1 formation. The following players took the field: Eckhoff - Boriani, Messier, Leszkoven, Korolovszky - Defaye, Bratko, Hribar, Palčok, Puelma - Osmolak.

KELT started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. They fielded: Hughes - Bezdíček, van Cromvoirt, Arentze - Vrhovski, Koletnik, Kosem, Brezan, Risen - Červenec, Draeger.

The crowd groaned its disapproval when S. Osmolak missed a free kick that would have given Smrkci the lead after 12 minutes. KELT had to make a substitution after 14 minutes. R. Bezdíček limped off the field and was replaced by M. Vanhaesebrouck. Some quick footwork on the left side of the field 15 minutes into the match left KELT's B. Koletnik completely free to score. 0 - 1 for the visitors. Smrkci's G. Korolovszky got himself booked for a foul. When G. Korolovszky made yet another studs-first tackle after 31 minutes, the referee was obliged to book the Smrkci player for the second time, sending him off the pitch. B. Koletnik was the unlucky victim and couldn't continue the game, so KELT's M. Maflaturo had to come off the bench. After 34 minutes, there was a bit of a mixup on the field as Smrkci found themselves out of position and their organisation level dropped to inadequate. 0 - 1 was the halftime score. Possession of the ball saw an equal split between the teams during the forty-five minutes.

A review of the gameplan helped Smrkci get back to a solid organisation when the referee blew his whistle again. The bench was restless, and with 66 minutes passed Smrkci's coach gave F. Fusé the opportunity the player had been hoping for. G. Messier reluctantly left the field. Smrkci made sure of not letting M. Risen succeed with his speed. When an opportunity appeared for him, as it did 76 minutes into the game, speedy H. Hribar came to the rescue and stopped the attack. With 77 minutes having been played, Smrkci scored to make it 1 - 1. A dribble down the left wing, followed by a shot which took a wicked bounce off a defender resulted in the keeper having no chance. Everyone thought it'd been an own goal, but F. Fusé was marked down as the scorer. A. Eckhoff looked great 81 minutes into the match after stopping a shot from the middle of the penalty area from the visitors' K. Arentze. 82 minutes into the game, Smrkci seemed a little tentative in their play as their organization fell to passable. F. Fusé really should have scored when he was chosen by fate to confront a wide open goal following a great play by J. Defaye after a corner. Smrkci made a bid to take the lead as a ball coming in on the right hand side left F. Fusé completely alone with keeper J. Hughes, who made a spectacular block. Smrkci took the lead 87 minutes in, as S. Osmolak broke through on the left and put the 2 - 1 shot just beyond the reach of the outstretched keeper. After 88 minutes, KELT used a short break in the game to take new instructions from their coach. Unhappy with the result so far in the game, the KELT manager used a brief break in play after 88 minutes to give the players new directives. As the game started to slip away for KELT, the manager decided to change the tactical approach. Content with how the game was proceeding, the Smrkci coach let T. Baurer replace G. Puelma after 88 minutes. After 88 minutes, KELT switched K. Arentze with S. Cygan, hoping for a quick impact on the pitch. Smrkci had most of the ball, with 55 percent of possession.

J. Defaye performed admirably for Smrkci. On the other hand, T. Baurer's play was disheartening. The most dominating KELT player was without a doubt V. Červenec. M. Vanhaesebrouck on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 2 - 1.