Eagles 1 - 2 Alviantis (386974635)

A brilliantly sunny day had enticed a crowd of 58876 to Middleton Grange Park. August Kindkvist was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Conrado Rozas and Ivar Carlsson. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Eagles. Lineup: Hendriksma - Cacek, Cock, Villena - Gall, Akpaka, Fawaz, Smith, Puskas - Schmalzl, Grimaldi.

Alviantis started off with a 5-4-1 lineup. The following players had been chosen: de Rover - Parry, Morrissey, van Eijs, Te Hauata, Dennison - Pong, Hawthorn, Neal-Sturgess, Janaszczyk - Gaberell.

Using their counter-attacking abilities was the strategy of choice for Alviantis. The guests took the lead 23 minutes into the match, after a right-side attack resulted in E. Neal-Sturgess scoring to make it 0 - 1. The corner kick from V. Villena was powerfully met by the head of W. Smith to make the score 1 - 1. 1 - 1 was the score after the first half. Possession in this half belonged to Eagles, who controlled the ball 60 percent of the time.

After 60 minutes, the Eagles coach wanted to see a new face on the pitch, waving E. Hendriksma off the field. B. Ashby Johnson took his place. Alviantis's counterattacks were lethal to the opposing defence, allowing E. Neal-Sturgess to score easily from the right flank for 1 - 2. As K. van Eijs had, completely unprovoked, swept the legs out from under an opponent in front of a linesman, the referee gave the Alviantis player a red card without batting an eyelid. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Eagles, with 61 percent of the ball.

Eagles's best player was C. Grimaldi. H. Gall turned in a dismal performance, however. Most important Alviantis player was A. Pong. On the other hand, T. Morrissey's play was disheartening. The match ends 1 - 2.