Official Cup

Allianz TBA
Spectators: 187 (Terracing: 141, Seating: 43, VIP seats: 3) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Adolfo Salvino started the match with the kick off. After a defensive mix-up in Symba's zone, Teófilo Vilanova stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Anis Achour came out of the goal and Teófilo Vilanova tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. An unexpectedly hard shot by Adolfo Salvino in the 16th minute of play forced Symba's goalkeeper Anis Achour to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. In the 21st minute Tomás San Juan shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Per-Erik Hjortberg saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Anis Achour made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Adolfo Salvino in the 23rd minute of play. In the 23rd minute, Adolfo Salvino 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. Per-Erik Hjortberg didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Tomás San Juan went, in the 26th minute, to the upper right corner, 0-1 was the resulting score. In the 29th minute, Sílvio Veiga left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Symba fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 0-2. Adolfo Salvino could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 33rd minute of the match, but Anis Achour made a huge save. After 37 played minutes Rothwell Park got a freekick which was hit by Elijah Leakey. Tomás San Juan received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 39th minute. Per-Erik Hjortberg tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. Per-Erik Hjortberg made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Tomás San Juan in the 41st minute of play. Per-Erik Hjortberg showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Sílvio Veiga, who was totally free with the ball in the 42nd minute. After a rather tough play, Rothwell Park's Elijah Leakey got a free kick in the 44th minute. Imed Akid was probably a little too eager to shoot when he, in the 45th played minute, shot the ball from way out. The shot was hard, but the ball flew wide of the goal. After the first half Symba were leading 0-2. They had played with great self confidence throughout the first half and fully deserved their lead.

Symba's Khaled Chérif was substituted for Sílvio Veiga. Symba's Faouzi Bnouni was substituted for Imed Akid. With an all-out effort, Symba's Per-Erik Hjortberg threw himself towards the right post 55 minutes into the match and grabbed hold of the ball from Tacettin Umay, which otherwise would have been placed in the net. After a defensive mix-up in Symba's zone, Adolfo Salvino stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Anis Achour came out of the goal and Adolfo Salvino tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. Rothwell Park's Abdallah Ali Bungei was substituted for Elijah Leakey. Per-Erik Hjortberg made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Tomás San Juan in the 63rd minute of play. Per-Erik Hjortberg took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Tacettin Umay, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. A collision led to Rothwell Park getting a freekick after 67 minutes play. Abdallah Ali Bungei hit a great ball. Symba's Hatem Ben Amor was substituted for Garry Mann. Per-Erik Hjortberg made an important save on a dangerous shot by Khaled Chérif in the 71st minute. Per-Erik Hjortberg made an important save on a dangerous shot by Tomás San Juan in the 76th minute. Per-Erik Hjortberg showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Faouzi Bnouni in the 78th minute of the match. Per-Erik Hjortberg made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Tomás San Juan in the 87th minute of play. Tomás San Juan's shot when he came free in front of the goal in the 87thth minute, Per-Erik Hjortberg skillfully showed off with a save to what seemed to be an obvious goal. Rothwell Park made a substitution. Walter Mutuku replaced Shekhar Biwott. After 93 minutes Symba's defender was forced to head the ball over the line for a corner. It was Sammy Keino who took care of the corner kick. Sammy Keino made a great header on Rothwell Park's corner, it was just that Symba's Anis Achour managed to reach the ball for a save. In the 94th match minute, Symba was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Faouzi Bnouni to maneuver through the defense. When the match was over Symba could go home with a victory in their luggage, having controlled the game far better than Rothwell Park throughout the match.