League Play-Off

St Helens
Spectators: 34 (Terracing: 26, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) Gainsborough's Souad Hamdoud started the match with a crisp pass. The crowd had been anticipating this game for weeks and the excitement in the stadium was easily visible. Houari Boulmerka fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 11th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Madjid Benboudaoud having to interfere. Madjid Benboudaoud showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Souad Hamdoud, who was totally free with the ball in the 12th minute. In the 18th minute, Youssef Mazzid reached a very good position and smashed the ball with a huge effort into the net, just to the left of Boualem Abbes. The goal made the score 1-0. Youssef Mazzid received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 23rd minute. Boualem Abbes tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. After 24 minutes, Benamar Guerrache mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Gainsborough and the St Helens AFC players grew even worse after the yellow card. The supporters of St Helens AFC booed when Gainsborough was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 24 match minutes in a wonderful position. Benamar Guerrache didn't get a good kick on the ball. An unexpectedly hard shot by Youssef Mazzid in the 28th minute of play forced Gainsborough's goalkeeper Boualem Abbes to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. With a little luck, Gainsborough's Boualem Abbes got control of the ball when Mostafa Bedroni tried to sneak it across the goal line. When the match had gone on for 33 minutes, Mostafa Bedroni put it in 2-0 from a short distance just to the right of Boualem Abbes. 40 minutes into the match, Benamar Guerrache had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Madjid Benboudaoud. St Helens AFC's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Benamar Guerrache was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 2-1. Houari Boulmerka received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 43rd minute. Madjid Benboudaoud tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere.

The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when Youssef Mazzid stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. St Helens AFC's Madjid Benboudaoud played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Souad Hamdoud in the 56th minute of play. Idriss Dahou charged in rather forcefully in the 57th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Idriss Dahou the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. After a rather tough play, St Helens AFC's Idriss Dahou got a free kick in the 57th minute. Houari Boulmerka's shot straight on target was not completely harmless. The ball had pretty good speed, but Madjid Benboudaoud firmly grabbed it by the left post. Yassine Akvayli hit a great freekick 59 minutes into the match. After a rather tough play, Gainsborough's Benamar Guerrache got a free kick in the 64th minute. Gainsborough's Boualem Abbes played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Youssef Mazzid in the 66th minute of play. Mostafa Bedroni fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 68th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Boualem Abbes having to interfere. The referee was alert and spotted a serious foul by Azzam Kermali during the 70th minute. The player immediately received a yellow card. After having played for 73 minutes, Houari Boulmerka managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Gainsborough's supporters crossed their fingers, but Houari Boulmerka was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. If Houari Boulmerka had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 75th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Madjid Benboudaoud made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Souad Hamdoud in the 80th minute of play. The audience thought a goal was coming when Houari Boulmerka got free with Madjid Benboudaoud in the 85th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. Idriss Dahou kicked well hit freekick during the 85th minute of the match. Madjid Benboudaoud made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Souad Hamdoud in the 89th minute of play. In the 94th minute, Mostafa Bedroni made a precise shot to the right of Boualem Abbes. Gainsborough's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 3-1. Gainsborough's players left the field with heads hung low after losing a match that had been finely balanced throughout.