League Play-Off

Taboabela
Spectators: 32 (Terracing: 25, Seating: 7, VIP seats: 0) The mood of the audience was pleasant when André Matias made the kick off which started today's match. After some fancy dribbling in the 16th minute, Oliveira Valente managed to get in a good position for a shot. Taboabela's supporters rose to their feet, but Oliveira Valente was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Emanuel Cardoso breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. A collision led to Merufe getting a freekick after 18 minutes play. Afonso Sousa hit a great ball. After recieving a nice pass, Taboabela's Alexandre Trindade tried to score from far away in the 19th minute, but the ball went over the crossbar. Afonso Sousa hit a great freekick 20 minutes into the match. In the 24th match minute, Merufe was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Cláudio Borges to maneuver through the defense. After some fancy dribbling in the 24th minute, Alexandre Trindade managed to get in a good position for a shot. Taboabela's supporters rose to their feet, but Alexandre Trindade was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Emanuel Cardoso breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. In the 26th minute, Cláudio Borges hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. André Matias hit a great freekick 27 minutes into the match. Thanks to some nice foot action and superb ball handling Vasco Garcia in the 29th minute a chance for a shot on goal. With an extended leg and a bit of luck António Queirós prevented the ball from getting in the gole. Emanuel Cardoso showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from André Matias, who was totally free with the ball in the 30th minute. Emanuel Cardoso made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from André Matias in the 32nd minute of play. The audience was convinced that André Matias's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Emanuel Cardoso was relentless in the 34th minute of the game. António Queirós showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Hugo Ribeiro, who was totally free with the ball in the 38th minute. Emanuel Cardoso made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from André Matias in the 40th minute of play. André Matias sent away a hard shot on goal in the 43rd minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. 45 minutes into the game, Taboabela's Oliveira Valente nearly tore a hole in the net with a booming shot. Emanuel Cardoso made a valiant effort, but he could not reach the ball in time, 1-0. The away team players looked dejected as the walked off the pitch at half time. They had fought hard, but were still losing 1-0.

The players of the home team were most fresh-looking when they entered the field to play the second half. Hugo Ribeiro was the one to do the kick off. Emanuel Cardoso showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Oliveira Valente in the 56th minute of the match. When the match had gone on for 60 minutes, Oliveira Valente put it in 2-0 from a short distance just to the right of Emanuel Cardoso. In the 62nd minute, Catarino Rocha hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Alexandre Trindade charged in rather forcefully in the 64th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Alexandre Trindade the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. In a very dangerous position, a player in Taboabela fell when an opponent tried to get the ball from him in the 64th minute. Penalty! In the 65th minute there was a penalty for Merufe. Jorge Valente stepped forward and shot the ball to the right of a diving António Queirós. 2-1. An unexpectedly hard shot by Oliveira Valente in the 72nd minute of play forced Merufe's goalkeeper Emanuel Cardoso to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. In the 73rd minute, Catarino Rocha hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. 74 minutes in the game, Vasco Garcia dribbled his way through the penalty area and after maneuvering past an opponent, drilled a quick shot at the goal. The ball looked like it was going in, but it was hit a bit too hard and flew over the goal. In the 77th minute, Vasco Garcia fired away a killer shot towards the goal that, to the delight of António Queirós, passed just outside the right post. André Matias fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 79th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Emanuel Cardoso having to interfere. Hugo Ribeiro's shot was meant for the net just under the crossbar, but António Queirós read the situation well and was quickly in position to make a wonderful save in the 84th minute of play. If Hugo Ribeiro had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 86th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. After a rather tough play, Merufe's Cláudio Borges got a free kick in the 90th minute. Cláudio Borges got his second yellow card in the match during the 92nd minute which meant that he had to leave the ground. The supporters of Taboabela booed when Merufe was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 93 match minutes in a wonderful position. Cláudio Borges didn't get a good kick on the ball. In the 94th minute André Matias shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Emanuel Cardoso saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. There was no doubt that Taboabela were the better team. Taboabela's players enjoyed the ovations of the crowd after the victory.