Liman Reboot
The Tao Of Firdaus
Grilled's reserves finally tasted victory, as they stayed home to face Serbian Division Five side liman4 at The Cooking Pot. The club had actually been trying to schedule a game at a more exotic locale, but settled on a home friendly after no suitable options presented themselves. Not that the players minded too much, as they celebrated as if they had won a cup final after the ninety minutes.
With another defeat unbearable in front of their home fans, Grilled's representatives were especially motivated from the get-go, with
Ahmad Tharmini bin Selamat very active as he became the extra man in the middle. While he had little luck dribbling through, he proved enough of a distraction to allow
Tao Tingfeng a free header from Darong's floating cross. The 19 year-old converted it clinically, and rushed to celebrate with an intensity rather inappropriate for a friendly game.
liman4 were taking the match quite seriously too, and half their team protested after Ivica Ceko was given a yellow card for simulation, as the teenager went flying over Seng-Huat's outstretched leg. Eventually good sense prevailed, the game was restarted, and Tingfeng promptly ran himself ragged down the left and prodded a half-decent effort into the middle. A few passes on, the ball got to Mohd Firdaus, who stuck it in for a two-goal lead.
The travelling fans were mollified somewhat after Ahmad Tharmini was also booked for diving, and his attempt was so woefully blatant that none of his pals bothered to speak up for him. Things then went to pieces again for Grilled's defence, and though
Hang Bao-Tam saved them on a few occasions, Ivica Ceko's glancing header and Attila Csala's blistering shot meant that Grilled had no advantage to take into half-time.
A moment of magic in the 56th minute got the fans standing, as Mohd Firdaus spotted Manojlo Bacetic some way off his line, and lobbed the goalie from midfield. That got the terraces in a tizzy, and was probably worth the price of admission by itself. The visitors were unimpressed, and once again went level, this time through Werner Ballinger off a terrific piece of vision from Miroslav Ikodinovic.
Just when it looked as if Grilled would have no friendly win to celebrate, Firdaus half-volleyed Grilled in front with nine minutes remaining, sparking a dogpile by his teammates. Tao would go on to complete a hat-trick as well, leading to a good-natured fight between the two for the match ball at the end.
