U23 League

Stade Sonny Anderson
Spectators: 161 (Terracing: 121, Seating: 37, VIP seats: 3) It was fairly windy and cold on the field when Eraldo Fantini kicked off to start the match. When Donato Amatori came up free with the goalie in the 6th minute, the Alba FC 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 Donato Amatori couldn't finish the play. In the 10th minute Tom Beaune shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Andrea Banana saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Alba FC's Andrea Banana played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Tom Beaune in the 19th minute of play. After a rather tough play, Alba FC's Fortunato Carlini got a free kick in the 19th minute. Mathias Lecanu charged in rather forcefully in the 21st minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Mathias Lecanu the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. After having played for 22 minutes, Andrea Iannotti managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Alba FC's supporters crossed their fingers, but Andrea Iannotti was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. Gael Kirac showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Donato Amatori, who was totally free with the ball in the 32nd minute. The supporters of Alba FC booed when Lyon 69ers was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 34 match minutes in a wonderful position. Mathis Boureau didn't get a good kick on the ball. Andrea Iannotti, 34 minutes into the match, dribbled the ball up the side of the field and decided to take a long shot at the goal. Unfortunately, the ball was poorly hit and landed closer to the corner than to the goal. Andrea Banana made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Tom Beaune in the 36th minute of play. An unexpectedly hard shot by Donato Amatori in the 41st minute of play forced Lyon 69ers's goalkeeper Gael Kirac to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. A collision led to Alba FC getting a freekick after 42 minutes play. Andrea Iannotti hit a great ball.

The hometeam waved at the audience when it was time for Alessio Cannavacciuolo to strike the kick off in the second half. In the 57th minute, Fortunato Carlini hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Andrea Banana made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Mathias Lecanu in the 58th minute of play. 68 minutes into the match, Tom Beaune had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Andrea Banana. Alba FC's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Tom Beaune was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 1-0. Gael Kirac made an important save on a dangerous shot by Donato Amatori in the 84th minute. A nice corner shot did that Andrea Iannotti got away a dangerous shot. Despite this Gael Kirac quite easily got ahold of the ball to make the save. Andrea Banana showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Eraldo Fantini, who was totally free with the ball in the 88th minute. With 92 minutes on the clock, Andrea Iannotti commited a dangerous tackle. The referee had no choice but to show him the red card. In the 91st minute, one of Alba FC:s players had the ball in front of the goal but got pushed and fell. The referee felt it was an obvious case and blew a penalty for Alba FC. Robert Garrigues shot the penalty kick right outside the post. The referee blew his whistle, and the match came to a close. The players exchanged shirts and headed down the tunnel. The Lyon 69ers fans cheered their team off the field, for while Alba FC had put up a good fight, they were unable to come out of the game with any points to show for their effort.