League Play-Off

Florham Park
Spectators: 34 (Terracing: 26, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Ismaël Benmabrouk started the match with the kick off. Amar Meskine hit a great freekick 8 minutes into the match. After some fancy dribbling in the 10th minute, Charles Morceli managed to get in a good position for a shot. Florham's supporters rose to their feet, but Charles Morceli was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Camel Bitat breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. Charles Morceli fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 12th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Camel Bitat having to interfere. Fathi Amara's late challenge caught a Ashland City's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Fathi Amara helped the player get up and apologised. Ahmed Morceli showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Ismaël Benmabrouk in the 21st minute of the match. An unexpected shot in the 29th minute by Kamel Morceli got the crowd on their feet, but to their dismay it went out on the left side. After 31 played minutes Florham got a freekick which was hit by Dida Bouteflika. When Ismaël Benmabrouk came up free with the goalie in the 35th minute, the Ashland City 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 Ismaël Benmabrouk couldn't finish the play. After 36 minutes, Amar Meskine mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Ashland City and the Florham players grew even worse after the yellow card. A collision led to Ashland City getting a freekick after 36 minutes play. Amar Meskine hit a great ball. In the 39th minute Ismaël Benmabrouk shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Ahmed Morceli saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. During the 40th minute of the match Amar Meskine completely mistimed his tackle and brought down his opponent. The referee gave Amar Meskine a yellow card, his second in the match, which meant he could no longer take part in the game. After 41 played minutes Ashland City got a freekick which was hit by Amar Meskine. When Anthar Khelaifia came up free with the goalie in the 44th minute, the Ashland City 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 Anthar Khelaifia couldn't finish the play. Hameur Firoud's shot was meant for the net just under the crossbar, but Ahmed Morceli read the situation well and was quickly in position to make a wonderful save in the 47th minute of play. After a very even first half the match was still tied. The players went to their respective dressing rooms to discuss the tactics for the second half.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Charles Morceli to make the kick off. After 55 played minutes, Florham's Mansour Belkheir shot from a long distance, and at first it looked like the ball was going into the goal, but the goalkeeper Camel Bitat came through and got his fingers on the ball before it flew over the goal line. He then quickly gripped the ball tighter before the forwards in Florham reached it. An unexpectedly hard shot by Kamel Morceli in the 58th minute of play forced Ashland City's goalkeeper Camel Bitat to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. 60 minutes into the match, Florham's goalkeeper Ahmed Morceli had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Hameur Firoud. Fathi Amara kicked well hit freekick during the 61st minute of the match. 67 minutes into the match, Ashland City's goal looked a bit too open when Charles Morceli came free, but Camel Bitat reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. In the 71st match minute, Florham was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Abd al-Aziz Zemmamouche to maneuver through the defense. After 73 minutes, Ismaël Benmabrouk mouthed his way into the referee's book. The tension between the Ashland City and the Florham players grew even worse after the yellow card. Ismaël Benmabrouk hit a great freekick 73 minutes into the match. Kamel Morceli fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 74th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Camel Bitat having to interfere. In the 76th minute, Hameur Firoud hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. 80 minutes into the match, Ashland City's goal looked a bit too open when Charles Morceli came free, but Camel Bitat reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Ismaël Benmabrouk was shown his second yellow card after 81 minutes, following a rather ugly tackle on opponent. That was the end of his participation in the match. After a rather tough play, Ashland City's Ismaël Benmabrouk got a free kick in the 81st minute. After some careless play in the Ashland City defense, Charles Morceli kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Camel Bitat. The Ashland City fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Camel Bitat should have stopped the shot. If Charles Morceli had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 92nd minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. For all the effort they put into the match, the Ashland City players left disappointed. They had fought hard, but couldn't break down the home team's defense. The match ended in a win for Florham.