League

Merriam Park
Spectators: 5000 (Terracing: 4000, Seating: 1000, VIP seats: 0) The mood of the audience was pleasant when Cheb Ben Khalidi made the kick off which started today's match. The referee blew the whistle for a penalty in the 4th minute of the game. One of Lake Ridge FC:s players had nearly got his shirt torn off by an opponent while getting free in front of Merriam:s goal. When the match had been going on for 5 minutes, Merriam's Madjid Benmabrouk got an opportunity to shoot a penalty. He stayed cool and waited for the goalkeeper to move, before he confidently shot the ball into the goal, to the left of Abdelaziz Sofiane. Tayeb Chaib's late challenge caught a Merriam's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Tayeb Chaib helped the player get up and apologised. After a rather tough play, Lake Ridge FC's Tayeb Chaib got a free kick in the 11th minute. Karim Zaoui showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Mohamed Hamdoud, who was totally free with the ball in the 13th minute. Zīn ud-Dīn Kourichi received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 14th minute. Karim Zaoui tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. After some fancy dribbling in the 19th minute, Mohamed Hamdoud managed to get in a good position for a shot. Lake Ridge FC's supporters rose to their feet, but Mohamed Hamdoud was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Karim Zaoui breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. With a couple of smart ball manuevers Mohamed Hamdoud in the 21st managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Karim Zaoui saved Merriam from getting behind. 23 minutes into the match, Merriam's goal looked a bit too open when Mohamed Hamdoud came free, but Karim Zaoui reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Karim Zaoui took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Mohamed Hamdoud, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Medjadi Kouri's late challenge caught a Merriam's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Medjadi Kouri helped the player get up and apologised. A collision led to Lake Ridge FC getting a freekick after 29 minutes play. Medjadi Kouri hit a great ball. After 30 played minutes, Merriam's Madjid Benmabrouk shot from a long distance, and at first it looked like the ball was going into the goal, but the goalkeeper Abdelaziz Sofiane came through and got his fingers on the ball before it flew over the goal line. He then quickly gripped the ball tighter before the forwards in Merriam reached it. In the 33rd minute, Zīn ud-Dīn Kourichi left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Lake Ridge FC fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 1-1. The referee was alert and spotted a serious foul by Abdelhamid Djura during the 36th minute. The player immediately received a yellow card. In the 37th match minute, Merriam was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Abdelhamid Djura to maneuver through the defense. In the 40th minute the ball was on its way in behind Lake Ridge FC's goalkeeper Abdelaziz Sofiane, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. In the 44th minute Mohamed Hamdoud shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Karim Zaoui saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. After having played for 46 minutes, Rachid Hima managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Merriam's supporters crossed their fingers, but Rachid Hima was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. 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 Mohamed Hamdoud stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. Abdelaziz Sofiane showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Rachid Hima, who was totally free with the ball in the 51st minute. Tayeb Chaib hit a great freekick 52 minutes into the match. In the 53rd match minute, Merriam was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Youssef Besseghir to maneuver through the defense. Lake Ridge FC's Abdelaziz Sofiane played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Cheb Ben Khalidi in the 56th minute of play. The referee was alert and spotted a serious foul by Kamel Zaoui during the 58th minute. The player immediately received a yellow card. In the 58th match minute, Lake Ridge FC was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Kamel Zaoui to maneuver through the defense. A collision led to Merriam getting a freekick after 60 minutes play. Mohamed Ben Boudiaf hit a great ball. Mohamed Hamdoud received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 64th minute. Karim Zaoui tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. When the match had gone on for 66 minutes, Mohamed Hamdoud put it in 1-2 from a short distance just to the right of Karim Zaoui. Karim Zaoui took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Mohamed Hamdoud, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. After a rather tough play, Merriam's Kasdi Nabil got a free kick in the 76th minute. Lake Ridge FC's Abdelhamid Méniri couldn't find anyone to pass the ball to, so he shot a long shot towards the goal in the 77th minute. The shot went wide which resulted in a goal kick for Merriam. Lake Ridge FC's Abdelaziz Sofiane played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Cheb Ben Khalidi in the 79th minute of play. The referee was alert and spotted a serious foul by Belaid Karim Belkassem during the 86th minute. The player immediately received a yellow card. In the 86th match minute, Lake Ridge FC was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Belaid Karim Belkassem to maneuver through the defense. After 87 played minutes, Merriam's Madjid Benmabrouk shot from a long distance, and at first it looked like the ball was going into the goal, but the goalkeeper Abdelaziz Sofiane came through and got his fingers on the ball before it flew over the goal line. He then quickly gripped the ball tighter before the forwards in Merriam reached it. Abdelaziz Sofiane showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Rachid Hima, who was totally free with the ball in the 89th minute. Abdelaziz Sofiane made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Cheb Ben Khalidi in the 92nd minute of play. In the 96th minute the ball was on its way in behind Merriam's goalkeeper Karim Zaoui, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. When the final whistle sounded Lake Ridge FC left the ground with the victory after a much better performance than Merriam.