League Play-Off

Monsanto City
Spectators: 32 (Terracing: 25, Seating: 7, VIP seats: 0) The field was rather wet after several days of rain when Fábio Resende took the kick off in the first half of the match. Fábio Resende's late challenge caught a SC Espeses's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Fábio Resende helped the player get up and apologised. A collision led to FC Monsanto getting a freekick after 5 minutes play. Fábio Resende hit a great ball. In the 6th match minute, SC Espeses was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Noel Luz to maneuver through the defense. In the 9th minute, Catarino Barbosa left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The FC Monsanto fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 1-0. Álvaro Moura charged in rather forcefully in the 11th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Álvaro Moura the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. A collision led to FC Monsanto getting a freekick after 11 minutes play. Álvaro Moura hit a great ball. Noel Luz fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 13th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Simão Moura having to interfere. Bento Manso stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Fábio Resende's shot from short distance in the 15th minute. 16 minutes into the game, Gabriel Bessa was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. FC Monsanto's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave SC Espeses the free kick. Gabriel Bessa hit a great freekick 17 minutes into the match. When Cândido Bettencourt came up free with the goalie in the 18th minute, the SC Espeses 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 Cândido Bettencourt couldn't finish the play. The crowd rose to their feet as Bernardo Leal kicked a wonderful shot that went in to the left of a diving Bento Manso. That made the score 2-0 in the 27 minute of play. Fábio Resende fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 32nd minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Bento Manso having to interfere. Simão Moura showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Isac Sousa in the 37th minute of the match. Bento Manso showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Álvaro Moura, who was totally free with the ball in the 38th minute. Noel Luz might have been able to make a better finish in the 41st minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Simão Moura. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Noel Luz ran back to his position shaking his head. In the 42nd match minute, FC Monsanto was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Gabriel Bessa to maneuver through the defense. In the 47th minute, SC Espeses's goalie took a deep sigh of relief after Fábio Resende fired away a hard shot that went just outside the left post.

The hometeam waved at the audience when it was time for Isac Sousa to strike the kick off in the second half. After some careless play in the SC Espeses defense, Catarino Barbosa kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Bento Manso. The SC Espeses fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Bento Manso should have stopped the shot. Bento Manso showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Gustavo Oliveira, who was totally free with the ball in the 57th minute. Bento Manso stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Fábio Resende's shot from short distance in the 58th minute. Fábio Resende sent away a hard shot on goal in the 63rd minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Isac Sousa was really disappointed when he shot the ball just outside the right post instead of scoring a goal in the 69th minute. SC Espeses's manager could be seen on the sidelines shaking his head and muttering to himself as his team had just wasted another chance. If Noel Luz had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 75th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. In the 76th minute, Gabriel Bessa hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. 84 minutes into the match, SC Espeses's goal looked a bit too open when Álvaro Moura came free, but Bento Manso reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. After 88 minutes, Noel Luz mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the SC Espeses and the FC Monsanto players grew even worse after the yellow card. Noel Luz hit a great freekick 89 minutes into the match. FC Monsanto were really happy, having secured the victory after a very even contest. They thanked the players of SC Espeses for a fine match.