Poland (5) v (4) Italy

By Claire Varley

FIGHTING for 5th and 6th place in the Dignitary Cup, Poland managed to overcome the Italians 5-4, in a gold medal worthy battle.

A big red block of Polish supporters filled one side of the crowd, holding up an inflatable kangaroo dressed in Polish colours and chanting ‘Polska, Polska' for the entire length of the game.

But it was the Italians who lit up the scoreboard first, with a stylish goal from Roberto Passio.

Good team passing helped the Poles put two good balls past the Italian keeper, both from the boots of Michal Marek Maziarz. By this stage the Polish cheer squad were singing well known songs, replacing the lyrics with the words 'Polska, Polska, Polska'.

Dominant, pitch-covering defence from the Poles and reflexive keeping from Lukasz Druzbicki kept the Italians from the net, while Maziarz took his third goal for Poland with a determined shot around the Italian keeper.

A blue card for Poland's Tomasz Rudyk seemed to make no difference as the Poles seemed to forget they were one man down with a solid defence that denied the Italians a scoring advantage. In the dying minutes of the first half, both teams raised the tempo, with the vocal Italians 'assisting' the referee. Poland managed a final goal before half time from Marcin Zakowski, bringing Poland to a 4-1 lead over Italy.

Italy came back determined to get back into the game with well placed goals from Abdoul Abass Bamba and Michele Farrante. Fantastic keeping from Bangali Dimande and tight Italian defence kept the Poles from scoring. After a series of powerful Italian shots on goal Abass found the net, levelling the score 4 all.

Almost immediately after arriving late to the Melbourne pitch side lines, Italy's Maximillano Leotta was subbed on, bringing fresh legs to the Italian side. With the scoreline even, both teams relentlessly attacked their goals and the loud thwacking of the ball against the goalkeeper's bodies was testament to the desperation driving the shots.

Despite the superb keeping of Bangali, Poland's Maziarz scored his fifth goal of the match, putting Poland ahead, 5-4. The passion and desperation of the final moments of the game was felt across the pitch and stands, with everyone screaming at everyone else. Despite their frantic efforts, Italy failed to level to score, succumbing to Poland 5-4.

Photos: Photoworx