League

Mong Cai
Spectators: 5000 (Terracing: 4000, Seating: 1000, VIP seats: 0) The sun was shining, the grass was green and the audience cheered when Đỗ Quang got the match started through his kick off. Mong Cai's Nguyễn Nam played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Nguyễn Viet in the 3rd minute of play. Tay Ninh's Huỳnh Minh-ha got a good chance for a goal in the 12th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. A collision led to Mong Cai getting a freekick after 14 minutes play. Bùi Lam hit a great ball. Tay Ninh's Nguyễn Thanh Bình couldn't find anyone to pass the ball to, so he shot a long shot towards the goal in the 15th minute. The shot went wide which resulted in a goal kick for Mong Cai. An unexpectedly hard shot by Trần Hoa in the 17th minute of play forced Mong Cai's goalkeeper Nguyễn Nam to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Huỳnh Minh-ha's shot was meant for the net just under the crossbar, but Nguyễn Nam read the situation well and was quickly in position to make a wonderful save in the 18th minute of play. In the 20th minute, Nguyễn Viet hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. Đặng Duc succeeded to score despite a near miss that spronge from right pole into the goal to 1-0 in the 23rd playminute. 29 minutes into the match, Đỗ Quang dribbled the ball past the defender and swiftly kicked the ball to the left of Bùi Nguyet, 2-0. Nguyễn Nam showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Huỳnh Minh-ha, who was totally free with the ball in the 36th minute. Nguyễn Nam took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Trần Hoa, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. After 38 played minutes Mong Cai got a freekick which was hit by Bùi Lam. If Trần Hoa had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 40th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. After having played for 43 minutes, Phạm Tho managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Tay Ninh's supporters crossed their fingers, but Phạm Tho was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. In the 45th minute of the match Đặng Hieu sent off a long shot with destination to the right of the goalkeeper, but Nguyễn Nam skillfully saved the ball. Trần Hoa took the ball and in the 48 minute, shot a rapid shot to the right of a surprised Nguyễn Nam. Nguyễn Nam dived to the right, and did manage to get a hand on the shot, but it still went into the right corner making it 2-1. No-one was surprised that the home team were leading 2-1 at half-time.

Both teams looked relatively alert before the second half when the referee blew his whistle to tell Trần Hoa to make the kick off. When Huỳnh Minh-ha came up free with the goalie in the 59th minute, the Tay Ninh 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 Huỳnh Minh-ha couldn't finish the play. After a rather tough play, Mong Cai's Liễu Tan got a free kick in the 60th minute. In the 63rdth minute of the game Trần Hoa who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but Mong Cai's Nguyễn Nam was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. Nguyễn Nam made a fantastic save in the 65th minute, when Huỳnh Minh-ha sent off a good shot on target. After 66 played minutes Mong Cai got a freekick which was hit by Ngô Duc. After a defensive mix-up in Mong Cai's zone, Huỳnh Minh-ha stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Nguyễn Nam came out of the goal and Huỳnh Minh-ha tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. A collision led to Mong Cai getting a freekick after 71 minutes play. Liễu Tan hit a great ball. Huỳnh Minh-ha fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 78th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Nguyễn Nam having to interfere. In the 83rd minute, Đỗ Quang 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. Đỗ Quang fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 86th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Bùi Nguyet having to interfere. Huỳnh Minh-ha recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 90th minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. With a little luck, Mong Cai's Nguyễn Nam got control of the ball when Huỳnh Minh-ha tried to sneak it across the goal line. Bùi Nguyet showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Đỗ Quang in the 97th minute of the match. The crowd rose to their feet and cheered when the referee blew the final whistle. Mong Cai had won after a very even match.