League Play-Off

Estadio Merguinhos
Spectators: 34 (Terracing: 26, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) It was fairly windy and cold on the field when Manuel Vaz kicked off to start the match. António Esteves received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 4th minute. Eduardo Leal tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. If António Esteves had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 6th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. After a defensive mix-up in Merguinhos's zone, Manuel Vaz stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Eduardo Leal came out of the goal and Manuel Vaz tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Eduardo Leal showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Manuel Vaz in the 14th minute of the match. After some careless play in the Merguinhos defense, Manuel Vaz kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Eduardo Leal. The Merguinhos fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Eduardo Leal should have stopped the shot. After having played for 18 minutes, Óscar Neves managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Merguinhos's supporters crossed their fingers, but Óscar Neves was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. Merelhe's Carlos Barros played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Marco Pereira in the 21st minute of play. Júlio Maia's late challenge caught a Merguinhos's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Júlio Maia helped the player get up and apologised. A collision led to Merelhe getting a freekick after 23 minutes play. Júlio Maia hit a great ball. Merguinhos's Óscar Neves got a good chance for a goal in the 25th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. Manuel Vaz received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 30th minute. Eduardo Leal tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. In the 33rd match minute, Merguinhos was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Lucas Gomes to maneuver through the defense. When António Esteves came up free with the goalie in the 37th minute, the Merelhe 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 António Esteves couldn't finish the play. In the 39th minute Manuel Vaz shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Eduardo Leal saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Manuel Vaz fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 40th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Eduardo Leal having to interfere. Júlio Maia was shown his second yellow card after 43 minutes, following a rather ugly tackle on opponent. That was the end of his participation in the match. In the 44th minute, Júlio Maia hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. After the first half Merelhe were leading 0-1. They had played with great self confidence throughout the first half and fully deserved their lead.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Marco Pereira to make the kick off. Carlos Barros took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Óscar Neves, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. 57 minutes into the match, Marco Pereira notched a goal, 1-1, to the right of Merelhe's Carlos Barros. Carlos Barros was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. After 59 played minutes Merelhe got a freekick which was hit by Oliveira Dantas. Merguinhos's Óscar Neves got a good chance for a goal in the 62nd minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. António Esteves could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 64th minute of the match, but Eduardo Leal made a huge save. António Esteves fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 73rd minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Eduardo Leal having to interfere. Merguinhos's Eduardo Leal proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 76th minute of the match, managed to save Merguinhos from getting a goal against them. In a very dangerous position, a player in Merguinhos fell when an opponent tried to get the ball from him in the 78th minute. Penalty! When Lucas Gomes fell near the penalty area in the 83rd minute he thought he would be awarded a free kick. The referee ignored Merguinhos's protests and gave Lucas Gomes a yellow card for diving instead. Lucas Gomes kicked well hit freekick during the 83rd minute of the match. Delfim Branco's late challenge caught a Merelhe's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Delfim Branco helped the player get up and apologised. Delfim Branco hit a great freekick 88 minutes into the match. António Esteves fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 97th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Eduardo Leal having to interfere. Carlos Barros made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Óscar Neves in the 100th minute of play. When the final whistle was heard the away supporters stood up and showed their joy. Merelhe had managed to secure a win in what was a close match throughout.