League

Estádio do Dragão
Spectators: 9370 (Terracing: 7028, Seating: 2155, VIP seats: 187) It was fairly windy and cold on the field when Hélder Soveral kicked off to start the match. In the 5th minute the ball was on its way in behind Minho FC's goalkeeper André Figueiredo, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. A nice corner shot did that Ludo Tobbackers got away a dangerous shot. Despite this André Figueiredo quite easily got ahold of the ball to make the save. A collision led to Dragonf⮊rcE getting a freekick after 7 minutes play. Virgílio Coelho hit a great ball. In the 19th minute Minho FC were awarded a corner. Yu Ran Zhen went to the cornerflag to take it. After a rather tough play, Minho FC's Rowan Dobson got a free kick in the 19th minute. André Figueiredo made an important save on a dangerous shot by Barry Houghton in the 22nd minute. Hélder Soveral scored 0-1 in the 27th match minute with a shot that went into the goal to the right of Zacarias Sesimbra, who was just a little too slow in reacting to the shot. An unexpectedly hard shot by Vladimiro Gago in the 29th minute of play forced Dragonf⮊rcE's goalkeeper Zacarias Sesimbra to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Barry Houghton received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 32nd minute. André Figueiredo tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. An unexpectedly hard shot by Hélder Soveral in the 35th minute of play forced Dragonf⮊rcE's goalkeeper Zacarias Sesimbra to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. An unexpectedly hard shot by Hélder Soveral in the 35th minute of play forced Dragonf⮊rcE's goalkeeper Zacarias Sesimbra to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. In the 36th minute the ball was on its way in behind Dragonf⮊rcE's goalkeeper Zacarias Sesimbra, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. Dragonf⮊rcE's Zacarias Sesimbra played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Hélder Soveral in the 38th minute of play. Barry Houghton recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 42nd minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. Minho FC were awarded a corner in the 45th minute after Dragonf⮊rcE's defender lost control of the ball, allowing it to roll out over the line. Yu Ran Zhen took the corner. The corner ended in Yu Ran Zhen almost managing to get the ball behind the net, but Dragonf⮊rcE's Zacarias Sesimbra did a great save. In the 49th minute Minho FC were awarded a corner. Yu Ran Zhen went to the cornerflag to take it. Even after changing tactics the home team jogged off the field with a 0-1 deficit. They would have to work harder if they wanted to turn things around in the second half.

The players of the home team were most fresh-looking when they entered the field to play the second half. Barry Houghton was the one to do the kick off. In the 56th minute, Magno Aparecido made a precise shot to the right of Zacarias Sesimbra. Dragonf⮊rcE's defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 0-2. Minho FC's attentive Alberto Paez managed to snatch the ball when Osvaldo Oliveira made a throw-in in the 59th minute of the game. 64 minutes into the game, Osvaldo Oliveira was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Dragonf⮊rcE's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave Minho FC the free kick. 65 minutes into the match, Dragonf⮊rcE's goal looked a bit too open when Magno Aparecido came free, but Zacarias Sesimbra reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. In the 66th minute of the match Minho FC got a corner. Dragonf⮊rcE's goalie ran out to the linesman to protest the call, but the linesman resolutely pointed his flag at the cornerflag. Yu Ran Zhen ran over to the corner to take the kick. The corner led to Minho FC's Vladimiro Gago getting away a dangerous shot that went just outside the goal. Magno Aparecido scored 0-3 in the 71st match minute with a shot that went into the goal to the right of Zacarias Sesimbra, who was just a little too slow in reacting to the shot. After some fancy dribbling in the 76th minute, Barry Houghton managed to get in a good position for a shot. Dragonf⮊rcE's supporters rose to their feet, but Barry Houghton was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. André Figueiredo breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. Dragonf⮊rcE made a substitution. Artur Sawicki replaced Barry Houghton. After 87 played minutes Dragonf⮊rcE got a freekick which was hit by Rogério Leme. After 87 played minutes Dragonf⮊rcE got a freekick which was hit by Vítor Veiga. Zacarias Sesimbra showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Yu Ran Zhen in the 88th minute of the match. Minho FC's attacker deliberately struck the ball against an opponent to win a corner for his team. The corner was taken by Yu Ran Zhen in the 89th minute. It was a well-played corner which Vladimiro Gago managed to volley towards the net. Unfortunately, he didn't get a great hit on the ball and it went out into the grandstand. Vítor Veiga's late challenge caught a Minho FC's player on the shin and left him crawling around in pain. The referee blew his whistle and produced the yellow card. Vítor Veiga helped the player get up and apologised. The referee blew the final whistle, and the away crowd roared, having watched Minho FC eke out a victory against a very well matched opponent.