League Play-Off

Safarujo
Spectators: 32 (Terracing: 25, Seating: 7, VIP seats: 0) Safarujo FC's Cláudio Pedroso 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. Lúcio Santos showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Joel Moreira in the 4th minute of the match. In the 7th match minute, Fioso was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Paulo Cunha to maneuver through the defense. Safarujo FC's Abel Leão shoveled away a really nice long shot in the 9th minute of play. The shot was stopped by Rafael Ferro but with some difficulty. Rafael Ferro took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Cláudio Pedroso, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. 16 minutes into the match, Fioso's goalkeeper Rafael Ferro had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Paulo Lima. Rui Nogueira's late challenge caught a Fioso's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Rui Nogueira helped the player get up and apologised. In the 19th match minute, Safarujo FC was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Rui Nogueira to maneuver through the defense. Lúcio Santos showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Carlos Esteves in the 20th minute of the match. After 21 minutes, Viriato Borba mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Fioso and the Safarujo FC players grew even worse after the yellow card. A collision led to Fioso getting a freekick after 22 minutes play. Viriato Borba hit a great ball. Paulo Lima could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 27th minute of the match, but Rafael Ferro made a huge save. The supporters of Safarujo FC booed when Fioso was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 28 match minutes in a wonderful position. Raul Coelho didn't get a good kick on the ball. 29 minutes into the match, Safarujo FC's Armindo Gueifão broke free and took a long shot that unfortunately flew wide. A fine initiative that could have resulted in a goal. Rafael Ferro made an important save on a dangerous shot by Paulo Lima in the 31st minute. António Costa hit a great freekick 33 minutes into the match. It was beautiful to see Safarujo FC's Armindo Gueifão in action when he in the 35th minute dribbled his way through a couple of opponents and the fired away a shot from almost standing still. First the ball seemed to get in, but turned out to be on the outside of the net. A great chance! The attack was good, but when Paulo Lima in the 37th minute was about to shoot he didn't kick quite good enough and the ball went high over goal. Paulo Lima sent away a hard shot on goal in the 41st minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Cláudio Pedroso fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 43rd minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Rafael Ferro having to interfere. The audience thought a goal was coming when Paulo Lima got free with Rafael Ferro in the 44th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. Raul Coelho lost his temper 46 minutes into the game and shoved another player to the ground. He was immediately shown a red card. The referee blew the whistle for a penalty in the 45th minute of the game. One of Fioso:s players had nearly got his shirt torn off by an opponent while getting free in front of Safarujo FC:s goal. Rafael Ferro didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Armindo Gueifão went, in the 48th minute, to the upper right corner, 1-0 was the resulting score. No-one was surprised that the home team were leading 1-0 at half-time.

The wind increased when Carlos Esteves made the kick off in the second half. Carlos Esteves received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 54th minute. Lúcio Santos tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. When Paulo Cunha fell near the penalty area in the 56th minute he thought he would be awarded a free kick. The referee ignored Fioso's protests and gave Paulo Cunha a yellow card for diving instead. After a rather tough play, Fioso's Paulo Cunha got a free kick in the 57th minute. During the 67th minute of the match Rui Nogueira completely mistimed his tackle and brought down his opponent. The referee gave Rui Nogueira a yellow card, his second in the match, which meant he could no longer take part in the game. In the 68th minute, Rui Nogueira hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. If Carlos Esteves had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 70th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. In the 72nd match minute, Fioso was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by António Costa to maneuver through the defense. In the 77th minute, Armindo Gueifão hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Viriato Borba, 78 minutes into the match, dribbled the ball up the side of the field and decided to take a long shot at the goal. Unfortunately, the ball was poorly hit and landed closer to the corner than to the goal. An unexpectedly hard shot by Paulo Lima in the 86th minute of play forced Fioso's goalkeeper Rafael Ferro to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Rafael Ferro showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Paulo Lima, who was totally free with the ball in the 87th minute. Fioso's Carlos Esteves got a good chance for a goal in the 94th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. Fioso's players left the field with heads hung low after losing a match that had been finely balanced throughout.