League

Kien Giang
Spectators: 5000 (Terracing: 4000, Seating: 1000, VIP seats: 0) The field was rather wet after several days of rain when Nguyễn Ritchell took the kick off in the first half of the match. In the 5thth minute of the game Nguyễn Chuong who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but Mong Cai's Nghiêm Cadeo was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. The crowd rose to their feet as Kien Giang's Nguyễn Chuong slotted home a wonderful shot that went in to the left of Nghiêm Cadeo. That made the score 1-0 after 7 minutes of play. In the 10th minute, Bùi Hoang hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Trần Dong took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Liễu Tan, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Liễu Hoa could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 21st minute of the match, but Nghiêm Cadeo made a huge save. Mong Cai's Nghiêm Cadeo proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 22nd minute of the match, managed to save Mong Cai from getting a goal against them. After a rather tough play, Kien Giang's Phùng Chung got a free kick in the 23rd minute. Nghiêm Cadeo made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Nguyễn Chuong in the 31st minute of play. 32 minutes into the match, Mong Cai's goal looked a bit too open when Nguyễn Chuong came free, but Nghiêm Cadeo reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. In the 34th minute, Mong Cai's goalie took a deep sigh of relief after Nguyễn Chuong fired away a hard shot that went just outside the left post. In the 35th match minute, Mong Cai was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Nguyễn Chung to maneuver through the defense. Liễu Hoa sent away a hard shot on goal in the 36th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Liễu Hoa hit a great freekick 36 minutes into the match. In the 40th minute, Văn Hoang hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Liễu Hoa could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 45th minute of the match, but Nghiêm Cadeo made a huge save. 1-1 became the score in the 46th minute when Nguyễn Ritchell elegantly shot the ball into goal just under the crossbar. After the first half the score was level. The break gave the players a chance to catch their breath, whilst the managers went over the tactics with them again.

The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when Nguyễn Chuong stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. In the 52nd minute, Phùng Chung hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. In the 55th minute the ball was on its way in behind Mong Cai's goalkeeper Nghiêm Cadeo, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. In the 56th minute Liễu Hoa shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Nghiêm Cadeo saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. After a defensive mix-up in Mong Cai's zone, Liễu Hoa stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Nghiêm Cadeo came out of the goal and Liễu Hoa tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. If Nguyễn Chuong had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 64th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. If Liễu Hoa had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 65th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. The audience was convinced that Hoàng Pham's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Nghiêm Cadeo was relentless in the 67th minute of the game. An unexpectedly hard shot by Liễu Hoa in the 68th minute of play forced Mong Cai's goalkeeper Nghiêm Cadeo to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. The referee was alert and spotted a serious foul by Nguyễn Chung during the 69th minute. The player immediately received a yellow card. After a rather tough play, Mong Cai's Nguyễn Chung got a free kick in the 69th minute. With a couple of smart ball manuevers Liễu Hoa in the 73rd managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Nghiêm Cadeo saved Mong Cai from getting behind. Liễu Hoa fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 81st minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Nghiêm Cadeo having to interfere. When Nguyễn Chuong came up free with the goalie in the 82nd minute, the Kien Giang 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 Nguyễn Chuong couldn't finish the play. Trần Dong made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Nguyễn Ritchell in the 91st minute of play. In the 93rd minute, Nguyễn Chuong 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. A collision led to Mong Cai getting a freekick after 96 minutes play. Vũ Cadeo hit a great ball. The crowd rose to their feet and cheered when the referee blew the final whistle. Kien Giang had won after a very even match.