Challenge

BALAN ARENA
Spectators: 40 (Terracing: 31, Seating: 9, VIP seats: 0) Iacob Bogdan made the kick off and thus started the match. Croatia's goalkeeper couldn't reach when Moise Bâru 3 minutes into the game got a good kick on the ball which found its way into goal just inside left pole. 1-0. Damir Pongrac took the ball and in the 6 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised Virgil Apostu. Virgil Apostu dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 1-1. Virgil Apostu showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Toni Mauzer, who was totally free with the ball in the 13th minute. Moise Bâru received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 15th minute. Ilija Skugor tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Virgil Apostu showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Toni Mauzer in the 20th minute of the match. An unexpectedly hard shot by Moise Bâru in the 26th minute of play forced Croatia's goalkeeper Ilija Skugor to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. 27 minutes had been played when some careless play by Croatia's defense caused the ball to cross the line for a corner. Iacob Bogdan was slow to take the kick. During this time Academia M.Balan's players had a chance to rest. In the 27th match minute, Academia M.Balan was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Ion Alexandrescu to maneuver through the defense. After a defensive mix-up in Academia M.Balan's zone, Neven Culina stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Virgil Apostu came out of the goal and Neven Culina tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. After 39 minutes, Damir Pongrac mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Croatia and the Academia M.Balan players grew even worse after the yellow card. After a rather tough play, Croatia's Damir Pongrac got a free kick in the 39th minute. In the 40th minute, Moise Bâru ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Ilija Skugor was frozen by the shot and now it was 2-1. In the 46th minute, Toni Mauzer hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Toni Mauzer kicked well hit freekick during the 48th minute of the match. The home fans were very happy to see their team leading 2-1 at half-time.

When the second half was about to start, both teams quickly lined up and Toni Mauzer made a kick off. In the 55th minute, Gelu Bunoaică hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. In the 56th minute, Toni Mauzer got an opportunity to score, but he didn't get a solid hit on the ball and ended up kicking it wide of the goal. Benjamin Domazet kicked well hit freekick during the 57th minute of the match. When Teo Gudelj fell near the penalty area in the 65th minute he thought he would be awarded a free kick. The referee ignored Croatia's protests and gave Teo Gudelj a yellow card for diving instead. After 65 minutes of play, the referee blew the whistle. It was a penalty for Croatia! In the 67th minute there was a penalty for Academia M.Balan. Moise Bâru stepped forward and shot the ball to the right of a diving Ilija Skugor. 4-1. Dinko Stankovic fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 71st minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Virgil Apostu having to interfere. Octavian Blajovan charged in rather forcefully in the 73rd minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Octavian Blajovan the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. In the 73rd match minute, Academia M.Balan was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Octavian Blajovan to maneuver through the defense. When Octavian Blajovan was, once again, overly rough in his play he received his second yellow card and was ordered off the ground. 76 minutes had been played. Octavian Blajovan kicked well hit freekick during the 77th minute of the match. The audience thought a goal was coming when Dinko Stankovic got free with Virgil Apostu in the 78th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. Ilija Skugor came out of the goal in the 83rd minute to try and stop a shot by Academia M.Balan's Marian Tufescu. But to his dismay, Marian Tufescu quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 5-1. Ilija Skugor took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Isac Pavalescu, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Ilija Skugor came out of the goal in the 90th minute to try and stop a shot by Academia M.Balan's Isac Pavalescu. But to his dismay, Isac Pavalescu quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 6-1. When Martin Bosak came up free with the goalie in the 94th minute, the Croatia fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Martin Bosak couldn't finish the play. Academia M.Balan walked away with a well-earned victory that was much celebrated by the crowd.