Bluebirds 3 - 2 Rangers (390051071)

It had rained all day, but 46847 hardy fans still made it out to Fortress Holker Street. Benito Sardone was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Amir Davidovich and Ari-Pekka Lepistö. A 4-5-1 alignment was the formation of choice for Bluebirds. Lineup: Jaffery - Cross, Blackburn, Murphey, 關嘉 (Guanjia) - Truman, Butler, Wisker, Zena, Prouteau - Elrick.

Rangers tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Bovelander - Duijf, Zamarromalo, Stanley - Takounidis, Ilyash, Honka, Calado, Pelzer - Colaci, Ainslie.

It was an obvious ambition of Bluebirds to use their ability at attacking on the flanks. J. Truman of Bluebirds seemed to be floating in the air as he elegantly headed in to make the score 1 - 0 after a corner kick that was nicely executed by S. Prouteau. Players in Bluebirds heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their central attacks to the wings instead. Bluebirds's J. Truman swung in a good chance from the left, but the visitors' defence were able to clear the ball. After 12 minutes, the away team failed to deal with a good exchange of passes on the right, and E. Zena gave the Bluebirds supporters even more to cheer about when he increased the lead to 2 - 0. Rangers's A. Zamarromalo got himself booked for a foul. The visitors got one back when M. Colaci finished off a pass from the left and scored after 32 minutes. 2 - 1 was the score. Bluebirds's S. Elrick had an excellent opportunity after 34 minutes, shooting after receiving a pass from the right hand side, but he missed the goal by miles! The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave 羅. 關嘉 (Guanjia) from Bluebirds a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 40 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! It was 2 - 1 at the break. Bluebirds claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 57 percent.

With 48 minutes played, Bluebirds's 羅. 關嘉 (Guanjia) almost extended the lead, but his shot from the left glanced off the top of the bar to fall behind the net. 66 minutes in, Rangers's N. Duijf received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Content with how the game was proceeding, the Bluebirds coach let S. Prouteau replace J. Wisker after 70 minutes. S. Prouteau left the field with a smile on his face as he was substituted 71 minutes into the game, as his team was in the lead. J. Forest was the replacement. E. Zena became the new Bluebirds captain. The muddy pitch made the game a gritty affair, which seemed to suit A. Zamarromalo just fine. Attacking on the wings was the choice for Bluebirds, and they were successfully passing the ball from the middle to the wings to attack. After 87 minutes, J. Truman put Bluebirds ahead 3 - 1 when he rose to head in a cross from the right wing. S. Elrick wanted to play on, but the Bluebirds coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 87 minutes into the game by T. Stanley. It was almost a goal for Bluebirds following D. Butler's good header after a corner, it went just over the bar though. D. Butler could have put Bluebirds up one more, but he fired into the side netting after breaking free on the left after 88 minutes. 89 minutes into the match, Rangers replied and reduced the lead to 3 - 2. M. Colaci scored on a marvellous cross pass coming in from the left. After 89 minutes, the defensive line of Rangers created a counterattack through the middle that gave N. Duijf a good look at the goal, but his shot glanced harmlessly off the crossbar. Possession in this half belonged to Bluebirds, who controlled the ball 57 percent of the time.

Most important Bluebirds player was D. Butler. T. Stanley was a disappointment, however. A. Zamarromalo performed admirably for Rangers. On the other hand, W. Bovelander's play was disheartening. The match ends 3 - 2.