U18 League

Marcelo Bielsa
Spectators: 144 (Terracing: 109, Seating: 33, VIP seats: 2) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Prospero Ekhi started the match with the kick off. After 5 played minutes El Stradivarius got a freekick which was hit by Faustino Benvido. 8 minutes into the match, Prospero Ekhi notched a goal, 1-0, to the right of El Stradivarius's Alejandro Mikolas. Alejandro Mikolas was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. A sloppy throw-in by Ladislao Jerardo in the 11th minute of the game went astray and was snapped up by El Stradivarius's Horacio Gonsalve. Horacio Gonsalve hit a great freekick 13 minutes into the match. Ladislao Jerardo charged in rather forcefully in the 15th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Ladislao Jerardo the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. 20 minutes into the match, Prospero Ekhi had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Alejandro Mikolas. El Stradivarius's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Prospero Ekhi was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 2-0. In the 24th minute Prospero Ekhi shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Alejandro Mikolas saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Benjamin Valiente could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 27th minute of the match, but Alejandro Mikolas made a huge save. Prospero Ekhi could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 29th minute of the match, but Alejandro Mikolas made a huge save. 31 minutes into the match, El Stradivarius's goalkeeper Alejandro Mikolas had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Prospero Ekhi. After a rather tough play, El Stradivarius's Aaron Leheren got a free kick in the 40th minute. In the 44th minute the ball was on its way in behind Newells Old Boys's goalkeeper Miguel Sancho, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. An unexpectedly hard shot by Prospero Ekhi in the 47th minute of play forced El Stradivarius's goalkeeper Alejandro Mikolas to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. No-one was surprised that the home team were leading 2-0 at half-time.

The hometeam waved at the audience when it was time for Ramon Urbez to strike the kick off in the second half. Alejandro Mikolas showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Benjamin Valiente, who was totally free with the ball in the 52nd minute. In the 55th minute, Amador Urti sent off a long shot on goal, but the shot was nowhere near the goal and El Stradivarius's Alejandro Mikolas didn't even have to move. With a couple of smart ball manuevers Prospero Ekhi in the 57th managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Alejandro Mikolas saved El Stradivarius from getting behind. Newells Old Boys's defense didn't have a chance, in the 60th minute, when Ramon Urbez scored to the left of an out of position Miguel Sancho, making the score, 2-1. Tobias Cordearo charged in rather forcefully in the 65th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Tobias Cordearo the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. After 64 minutes of play, the referee blew the whistle. It was a penalty for El Stradivarius! Amador Urti scored 3-1 in the 66th match minute with a shot that went into the goal to the right of Alejandro Mikolas, who was just a little too slow in reacting to the shot. Rodrigo Normando's late challenge caught a Newells Old Boys's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Rodrigo Normando helped the player get up and apologised. Rodrigo Normando kicked well hit freekick during the 69th minute of the match. When Amador Urti came up free with the goalie in the 70th minute, the Newells Old Boys 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 Amador Urti couldn't finish the play. 75 minutes into the match, El Stradivarius's Ramon Urbez sent off a blazing shot straight on target, a shot that Miguel Sancho narrowly saved just below the crossbar. Faustino Benvido kicked well hit freekick during the 77th minute of the match. El Stradivarius's Alejandro Mikolas played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Benjamin Valiente in the 80th minute of play. If Ramon Urbez had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 84th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. 87 minutes into the match, El Stradivarius's goal looked a bit too open when Prospero Ekhi came free, but Alejandro Mikolas reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Aaron Leheren's late challenge caught a Newells Old Boys's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Aaron Leheren helped the player get up and apologised. After a rather tough play, El Stradivarius's Aaron Leheren got a free kick in the 87th minute. Ladislao Jerardo got a throw-in 93 minutes in the game and the ball was received by Hernan Gagriel. Newells Old Boys's supporters were delighted with their team's performance and swarmed onto the pitch at the end of the match to celebrate the victory with the players.