U23 World League

Saddledome Stadium
Spectators: 7678 (Terracing: 5759, Seating: 1766, VIP seats: 153) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Benjamin De Mitri started the match with the kick off. After having played for 3 minutes, Benjamin De Mitri managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Nippur de Lagash 2's supporters crossed their fingers, but Benjamin De Mitri was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. With a little luck, Nippur de Lagash 2's Jonathan De Mitri got control of the ball when Norbert Garland tried to sneak it across the goal line. If Benjamin De Mitri had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 10th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Benedicto Hondo sent away a hard shot on goal in the 12th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. Margarito Santana showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Benjamin De Mitri in the 18th minute of the match. Jonathan De Mitri made an important save on a dangerous shot by Norbert Garland in the 21st minute. In the 22nd minute the ball was on its way in behind Nippur de Lagash 2's goalkeeper Jonathan De Mitri, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. Flames FC's attacker deliberately struck the ball against an opponent to win a corner for his team. The corner was taken by Micheal Burnham in the 24th minute. Benjamin De Mitri might have been able to make a better finish in the 27th minute when he tried to place a hard shot over Margarito Santana. Instead the ball went over the crossbar and out. Benjamin De Mitri ran back to his position shaking his head. Flames FC's Margarito Santana played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Benjamin De Mitri in the 27th minute of play. Margarito Santana didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Benjamin De Mitri went, in the 31st minute, to the upper right corner, 0-1 was the resulting score. Ambrose Keen could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 34th minute of the match, but Jonathan De Mitri made a huge save. Jonathan De Mitri showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Norbert Garland in the 36th minute of the match. 38 minutes into the match, Nippur de Lagash 2's goal looked a bit too open when Norbert Garland came free, but Jonathan De Mitri reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Benjamin De Mitri sent away a hard shot on goal in the 41st minute, but the ball hit the crossbar and went out. A very good chance for a goal. In the 41st minute Benjamin De Mitri shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Margarito Santana saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Nippur de Lagash 2's Jonathan De Mitri proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 46th minute of the match, managed to save Nippur de Lagash 2 from getting a goal against them. The audience thought a goal was coming when Horace Vaughn got free with Jonathan De Mitri in the 46th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. After the first half Nippur de Lagash 2 were leading 0-1. They had played with great self confidence throughout the first half and fully deserved their lead.

When the second half was about to start, both teams quickly lined up and Norbert Garland made a kick off. Jonathan De Mitri made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Orval Crow in the 53rd minute of play. Jonathan De Mitri showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Orval Crow in the 55th minute of the match. 57 minutes into the match, Flames FC's goal looked a bit too open when Benedicto Hondo came free, but Margarito Santana reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. The audience thought a goal was coming when Benjamin De Mitri got free with Margarito Santana in the 59th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. Margarito Santana showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Benedicto Hondo in the 63rd minute of the match. Benjamin De Mitris short, quick shot in the 65thth minute got Margarito Santana to make great effort and bar the ball away from getting in. 66 minutes into the game, Benedicto Hondo was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Nippur de Lagash 2's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave Flames FC the free kick. A collision led to Nippur de Lagash 2 getting a freekick after 66 minutes play. Benedicto Hondo hit a great ball. Nippur de Lagash 2 made a substitution. Virgilio Emenon replaced Ulises Isusko. Flames FC's Berry Corley was substituted for Donald Kearns. After 67 played minutes Nippur de Lagash 2 got a freekick which was hit by Benedicto Hondo. Jonathan De Mitri showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Horace Vaughn in the 72nd minute of the match. After a rather tough play, Flames FC's Orval Crow got a free kick in the 73rd minute. With a little luck, Flames FC's Margarito Santana got control of the ball when Benjamin De Mitri tried to sneak it across the goal line. After 81 played minutes Flames FC got a freekick which was hit by Valère Flowers. Flames FC's Margarito Santana proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 82nd minute of the match, managed to save Flames FC from getting a goal against them. Horace Vaughn's late challenge caught a Nippur de Lagash 2's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Horace Vaughn helped the player get up and apologised. Horace Vaughn hit a great freekick 83 minutes into the match. Flames FC's Margarito Santana proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 85th minute of the match, managed to save Flames FC from getting a goal against them. The crowd rose to their feet as Nippur de Lagash 2's Benjamin De Mitri slotted home a wonderful shot that went in to the left of Margarito Santana. That made the score 0-2 after 86 minutes of play. Benjamin De Mitri fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 92nd minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Margarito Santana having to interfere. Nippur de Lagash 2's attentive Virgilio Emenon managed to snatch the ball when Cyril Cantrell made a throw-in in the 94th minute of the game. Nippur de Lagash 2's supporters were very happy and cheered loudly because their team had won after a very close match.