League Play-Off

Menjoelho
Spectators: 32 (Terracing: 25, Seating: 7, VIP seats: 0) Cernadelo FC's Cristiano Soares 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. Jorge Reis received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 4th minute. Henrique Martins tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. João Neves charged in rather forcefully in the 5th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed João Neves the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. João Neves hit a great freekick 5 minutes into the match. The referee gave Menjoelho FC a penalty, 9 minutes into the game. The penalty shot was made by Jaime Luz, who made a well placed shot into the net to the right of Cernadelo FC's Henrique Martins. 1-0. Henrique Martins took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Joaquim Sousa, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. When Vítor Faria came up free with the goalie in the 18th minute, the Cernadelo FC 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 Vítor Faria couldn't finish the play. After some careless play in the Menjoelho FC defense, Cristiano Soares kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Fernando Rodrigues. The Menjoelho FC fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Fernando Rodrigues should have stopped the shot. In the 23rd minute, Cristiano Soares 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. Cernadelo FC's Vítor Faria got a good chance for a goal in the 27th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. Alexandre Cunha recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 31st minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. Cristiano Soares sent away a hard shot on goal in the 34th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. If Cristiano Soares had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 36th minute. The ball went over the crossbar instead. Fernando Rodrigues took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Vítor Faria, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. When Cristiano Soares came up free with the goalie in the 43rd minute, the Cernadelo FC 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 Cristiano Soares couldn't finish the play. Jorge Reis sent away a hard shot on goal in the 46th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. The score stood at 2-2 when the half time whistle went. Both sets of players seemed reasonably pleased with how the match was going.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Joaquim Sousa to make the kick off. After 58 minutes, Júlio Ferro mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Cernadelo FC and the Menjoelho FC players grew even worse after the yellow card. After a rather tough play, Cernadelo FC's Júlio Ferro got a free kick in the 58th minute. The audience cheered when Jaime Luz's long shot passed Henrique Martins's right side. It was 3-2, 59 minutes into the match. After a defensive mix-up in Cernadelo FC's zone, Jorge Reis stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Henrique Martins came out of the goal and Jorge Reis tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Jorge Reis recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 70th minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. Fernando Rodrigues stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Cristiano Soares's shot from short distance in the 72nd minute. After some fancy dribbling in the 74th minute, Cristiano Soares managed to get in a good position for a shot. Cernadelo FC's supporters rose to their feet, but Cristiano Soares was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Fernando Rodrigues breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. The supporters of Menjoelho FC booed when Cernadelo FC was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 79 match minutes in a wonderful position. Paulo Lopes didn't get a good kick on the ball. In the 81st match minute, Cernadelo FC was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Júlio Ferro to maneuver through the defense. Júlio Ferro was shown his second yellow card after 82 minutes, following a rather ugly tackle on opponent. That was the end of his participation in the match. A collision led to Cernadelo FC getting a freekick after 83 minutes play. Júlio Ferro hit a great ball. Jaime Luz, 84 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. Henrique Martins showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Jorge Reis in the 87th minute of the match. A collision led to Cernadelo FC getting a freekick after 90 minutes play. Xavier Ferreira hit a great ball. An unexpectedly hard shot by Joaquim Sousa in the 92nd minute of play forced Cernadelo FC's goalkeeper Henrique Martins to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. If Jorge Reis had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 95th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Joaquim Sousa took the ball and in the 96 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised Henrique Martins. Henrique Martins dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 4-2. Menjoelho FC's supporters were highly satisfied with the result. They cheered their team of the pitch, having watched them win a very even match.