League

Purfleet Park
Spectators: 6753 (Terracing: 5000, Seating: 1753, VIP seats: 0) The field was rather wet after several days of rain when Afdal Raïs took the kick off in the first half of the match. Khaldoun Ramdani fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 2nd minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Said Sahraoui having to interfere. In the 4thth minute of the game Khaldoun Ramdani who was perfectly placed tried to make a shot on goal, but Rugeley United's Said Sahraoui was lucky and managed to grab hold of the ball. The referee was alert and spotted a serious foul by Faouzi Ben Bella during the 7th minute. The player immediately received a yellow card. After 7 minutes of play, the referee blew the whistle. It was a penalty for Rugeley United! Ismaïl Benmabrouk made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Afdal Raïs in the 12th minute of play. In the 16th minute Khaldoun Ramdani shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Said Sahraoui saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. In the 20th minute, Abdelmalek Hamdani hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. With a couple of smart ball manuevers Khaldoun Ramdani in the 23rd managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Said Sahraoui saved Rugeley United from getting behind. An unexpectedly hard shot by Nasser Morceli in the 27th minute of play forced Purfleet's goalkeeper Ismaïl Benmabrouk to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. After 41 played minutes, Rugeley United's Boualem Allahoum shot from a long distance, and at first it looked like the ball was going into the goal, but the goalkeeper Ismaïl Benmabrouk 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 Rugeley United reached it. After having played for 42 minutes, Afdal Raïs managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Rugeley United's supporters crossed their fingers, but Afdal Raïs was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. If Yannis Benzaghou had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 48th minute. The ball went over the crossbar instead. When the referee blew for the end of the half the home team players were clearly happier, as they went in to the break leading 1-0.

Khaldoun Ramdani fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 54th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Said Sahraoui having to interfere. The supporters of Purfleet booed when Rugeley United was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 55 match minutes in a wonderful position. Abdelmalek Hamdani didn't get a good kick on the ball. After 58 played minutes Rugeley United got a freekick which was hit by Adal Ali. Afdal Raïs sent away a hard shot on goal in the 66th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Massoud Kraouche charged in rather forcefully in the 67th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Massoud Kraouche the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. After a rather tough play, Purfleet's Massoud Kraouche got a free kick in the 67th minute. The audience thought a goal was coming when Abdelmalek Hamdani got free with Ismaïl Benmabrouk in the 74th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. Said Sahraoui made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Yannis Benzaghou in the 76th minute of play. Nasser Morceli's shot was meant for the net just under the crossbar, but Ismaïl Benmabrouk read the situation well and was quickly in position to make a wonderful save in the 78th minute of play. After a rather tough play, Rugeley United's Faouzi Ben Bella got a free kick in the 82nd minute. In the 87th minute Khaldoun Ramdani shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Said Sahraoui saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Purfleet's Hassan Sabati got a good chance for a goal in the 89th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. Said Sahraoui didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Yannis Benzaghou went, in the 91st minute, to the upper right corner, 3-1 was the resulting score. Purfleet's supporters were highly satisfied with the result. They cheered their team of the pitch, having watched them win a very even match.