League Play-Off

Estadio Tocha
Spectators: 34 (Terracing: 26, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) The field was rather wet after several days of rain when Cristiano Costa took the kick off in the first half of the match. Armindo Bessa could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 3rd minute of the match, but Tiago Baptista made a huge save. When Oliveira Araújo came up free with the goalie in the 5th minute, the Almeijoafra 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 Oliveira Araújo couldn't finish the play. André Veiga's late challenge caught a Almeijoafra's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. André Veiga helped the player get up and apologised. After a rather tough play, SC Tocha's André Veiga got a free kick in the 6th minute. After having played for 7 minutes, Jorge Veiga managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Almeijoafra's supporters crossed their fingers, but Jorge Veiga was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. Tiago Baptista showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Cristiano Costa in the 9th minute of the match. SC Tocha's José Lopes played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Oliveira Araújo in the 13th minute of play. The referee was alert and spotted a serious foul by Viriato Marques during the 14th minute. The player immediately received a yellow card. Viriato Marques hit a great freekick 14 minutes into the match. José Lopes stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Oliveira Araújo's shot from short distance in the 15th minute. In the 18th minute, Abel Oliveira hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. A collision led to Almeijoafra getting a freekick after 24 minutes play. António Viegas hit a great ball. Cristiano Costa fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 28th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Tiago Baptista having to interfere. Thanks to some nice moves Armindo Bessa could shoot a difficult shot in the 29th minute, which Tiago Baptista however easily saved by the left post. António Viegas hit a great freekick 30 minutes into the match. Almeijoafra's Tiago Baptista played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Cristiano Costa in the 34th minute of play. António Viegas fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 43rd minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without José Lopes having to interfere. 44 minutes into the match, SC Tocha's goal looked a bit too open when Jorge Veiga came free, but José Lopes reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. After some fancy dribbling in the 46th minute, Cristiano Costa managed to get in a good position for a shot. SC Tocha's supporters rose to their feet, but Cristiano Costa was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Tiago Baptista breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. The first half was very even, with the score at 0-0 when the whistle went for half-time. The players welcomed the break and quickly retired to the dressing rooms.

The wind increased when Oliveira Araújo made the kick off in the second half. Cristiano Costa might have been able to make a better finish in the 54th minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Tiago Baptista. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Cristiano Costa ran back to his position shaking his head. 59 minutes into the match, Jorge Veiga notched a goal, 0-1, to the right of SC Tocha's José Lopes. José Lopes was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. Raul Borba hit a great freekick 61 minutes into the match. After some fancy dribbling in the 64th minute, Jorge Veiga managed to get in a good position for a shot. Almeijoafra's supporters rose to their feet, but Jorge Veiga was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. José Lopes breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. The audience thought a goal was coming when Jorge Veiga got free with José Lopes in the 71st minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. Tiago Baptista showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Cristiano Costa in the 73rd minute of the match. Armindo Bessa sent away a hard shot on goal in the 75th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. In the 77th minute, Armindo Bessa 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 79th minute, Jorge Veiga ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. José Lopes was frozen by the shot and now it was 1-2. Cristiano Costa received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 83rd minute. Tiago Baptista tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Oliveira Araújo was extremely unlucky when he, in the 84th minute, took a shot that hit the right post and went out. The supporters of Almeijoafra booed when SC Tocha was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 89 match minutes in a wonderful position. Abel Oliveira didn't get a good kick on the ball. 90 minutes into the match, Almeijoafra's Daniel Pacheco broke free and took a long shot that unfortunately flew wide. A fine initiative that could have resulted in a goal. An unexpectedly hard shot by André Veiga in the 97th minute of play forced Almeijoafra's goalkeeper Tiago Baptista to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. The Almeijoafra supporters could be heard counting down the last seconds of the match. They errupted in celebration when the whistle blew, knowing Almeijoafra would go home with victory in their luggage after a match that easily could have ended differently.