League Play-Off

El Jardin
Spectators: 34 (Terracing: 26, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Iñaki Vagrande started the match with the kick off. Ibar Gene made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Marcial Alvarez in the 3rd minute of play. In the 5th minute, Iñaki Vagrande left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The San Esteban AFC fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 0-1. Xabat Cortes showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Iñaki Vagrande, who was totally free with the ball in the 9th minute. An unexpectedly hard shot by Iñaki Vagrande in the 12th minute of play forced El Jardin AFC's goalkeeper Xabat Cortes to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Rosendo Leon's late challenge caught a El Jardin AFC's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Rosendo Leon helped the player get up and apologised. After a rather tough play, San Esteban AFC's Rosendo Leon got a free kick in the 14th minute. Anastasio Martin blasted a shot towards the goal in the 16th minute, but the shot hit the top of the crossbar and went out without Ibar Gene having to make a save. In the 24th minute Iñaki Vagrande shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Xabat Cortes saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Andres Alfaro received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 26th minute. Ibar Gene tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. The referee was alert and spotted a serious foul by Juan Saez during the 27th minute. The player immediately received a yellow card. Ibar Gene was a little too slow when Anastasio Martin got a fine hit on the ball which went right into the goal in the 28th minute. The score was now 2-1. Andoni Cuadrado sent away a hard shot on goal in the 32nd minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Andres Alfaro struck a weak shot in the 34th minute. Ibar Gene didn't even have to move as the ball rolled over the line well wide of the goal. A wasted opportunity for El Jardin AFC. Anastasio Martin kicked a quick shot right in front of the goal in the 36thth minute. Though ot was a great shot San Esteban AFC's keeper Ibar Gene was sill able to block leaving the score board unchanged. In the 40th minute, Anastasio Martin 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. San Esteban AFC's Ibar Gene proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 43rd minute of the match, managed to save San Esteban AFC from getting a goal against them. Anastasio Martin might have been able to make a better finish in the 45th minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Ibar Gene. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Anastasio Martin ran back to his position shaking his head. Af the end of the first half the score was 2-1. The first half had gone as expected for the home team.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Andres Alfaro to make the kick off. When Raymundo Morera came up free with the goalie in the 58th minute, the San Esteban AFC 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 Raymundo Morera couldn't finish the play. If Andres Alfaro had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 60th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Antoni Valdivia charged in rather forcefully in the 69th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Antoni Valdivia the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. Antoni Valdivia hit a great freekick 69 minutes into the match. Ibar Gene took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Andres Alfaro, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. When Andres Alfaro came up free with the goalie in the 73rd minute, the El Jardin AFC 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 Andres Alfaro couldn't finish the play. Iñaki Vagrande fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 79th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Xabat Cortes having to interfere. In the 84th minute, Anastasio Martin 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 a very dangerous position, a player in San Esteban AFC fell when an opponent tried to get the ball from him in the 86th minute. Penalty! When Raymundo Morera came up free with the goalie in the 91st minute, the San Esteban AFC 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 Raymundo Morera couldn't finish the play. Iñaki Vagrande might have been able to make a better finish in the 92nd minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Xabat Cortes. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Iñaki Vagrande ran back to his position shaking his head. Xabat Cortes showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Iñaki Vagrande in the 94th minute of the match. El Jardin AFC's supporters were delighted with their team's performance and swarmed onto the pitch at the end of the match to celebrate the victory with the players.