League

Harpurhey Park
Spectators: 6749 (Terracing: 5000, Seating: 1749, VIP seats: 0) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Issan Dhyab started the match with the kick off. In the 2nd minute of the match Rafik Rezzoug shot from a long distance. The ball could have gone into the goal to the right of the goalkeeper, but Mohamed El Kounya showed his good shape when he easily got hold of the ball. Idir Aribi showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Badr Jeanson in the 4th minute of the match. In the 6th minute Abdelbassir Mammeri shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Mohamed El Kounya saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. After 10th play minutes Badr Jeanson shot 0-1, a short shot which went by Idir Aribi and just under the crossbar into goal. Mohamed El Kounya took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Abdelbassir Mammeri, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. After a rather tough play, Holmer Green AFC's Adib Fechtali got a free kick in the 15th minute. When the match had gone on for 17 minutes, Badreddine Rezzag put it in 1-1 from a short distance just to the right of Mohamed El Kounya. 20 minutes into the game, Safy Aïssaoui was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Holmer Green AFC's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave Harpurhey AFC the free kick. In the 20th minute, Safy Aïssaoui hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Harpurhey AFC's Idir Aribi played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Safy Aïssaoui in the 23rd minute of play. In the 27th minute Abdelbassir Mammeri shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Mohamed El Kounya saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Badreddine Rezzag fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 29th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Mohamed El Kounya having to interfere. Abdelbassir Mammeri received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 33rd minute. Mohamed El Kounya tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. In the 35th match minute, Holmer Green AFC was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Aflawas Kaci to maneuver through the defense. After recieving a nice pass, Harpurhey AFC's Yamine Achiu tried to score from far away in the 36th minute, but the ball went over the crossbar. Mohamed El Kounya made a fantastic save in the 39th minute, when Badreddine Rezzag sent off a good shot on target. Idir Aribi made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Badr Jeanson in the 42nd minute of play. Badreddine Rezzag sent away a hard shot on goal in the 44th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. If Issan Dhyab had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 49th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. After a very even first half the match was still tied. The players went to their respective dressing rooms to discuss the tactics for the second half.

Holmer Green AFC's Mohamed El Kounya played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Abdelbassir Mammeri in the 53rd minute of play. Issan Dhyab fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 55th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Idir Aribi having to interfere. Aflawas Kaci got his second yellow card in the match during the 57th minute which meant that he had to leave the ground. In the 58th minute, Aflawas Kaci hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Badreddine Rezzag fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 59th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Mohamed El Kounya having to interfere. Badr Jeanson fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 66th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Idir Aribi having to interfere. In the 71st minute Abdelbassir Mammeri shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Mohamed El Kounya saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Badr Jeanson sent away a hard shot on goal in the 72nd minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Yunes Bouzid kicked well hit freekick during the 73rd minute of the match. In the 74th minute, Issan Dhyab 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. In the 77th play minute Badr Jeanson came free and shot an unsuspected shot which went into goal from the right pole behind a surprised Idir Aribi. 1-2. Idir Aribi showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Safy Aïssaoui, who was totally free with the ball in the 81st minute. Mohamed El Kounya made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Badreddine Rezzag in the 85th minute of play. An unexpectedly hard shot by Badr Jeanson in the 91st minute of play forced Harpurhey AFC's goalkeeper Idir Aribi to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. After 92 minutes of play, the referee blew the whistle. It was a penalty for Holmer Green AFC! Holmer Green AFC were disappointed that they only managed a draw, even though they felt themselves to be the better team.