Culprits Convert
Pain Intensified
Grilled never really recovered from a sapping midweek defeat to Uchiha Clan, and their torrid derby form continued unabated as they lost 0-2 to Codingin in the return fixture at St James Park. Unsurprisingly, defence was Grilled's Achilles heel as they kept to their last formation, and not even sharp offensive play could make up for that deficit.
There had been generous coverage of the run-up to the match, especially after the events of last week. Despite an official statement from Grilled Birds stating that the matter was now closed, their die-hard supporters still turned up in force with banners berating Lucchese and Himes.
It was thus extremely aggravating that Himes would once more open the scoring against Grilled, who were woefully one-dimensional. Afraid of losing the ball, Grilled never posed a real threat to Codingin's defence, and when they did, they were duly punished; Spirig tracked Himes down the left but lost him, and a timely through ball by Thiébeaux gave the American a choice look at goal.
Grilled must have felt that Fate herself was thumbing her nose at them, as Geppino Lucchese, of all people, doubled Codingin's lead. Soundly booed by the travelling contigent for nearly wrecking Sid's career, Lucchese kept his calm and hopped past Fredgård to let loose a right-footed flier. Sulaiman might have stopped it, but couldn't get enough of his hand onto the strong shot.
Grilled's supporters simmered through the rest of an ill-tempered first half, which saw Dutch midfielder Frenk Baselier get booked for kicking the ball away after the referee stopped the game, and ex-Dutch national winger Hendrik-Jan Boroffka make a totally unnecessary challenge on Spirig that nearly sparked off a fight. Daniel Molla then saw his volley come off the woodwork, as Codingin took full advantage of Grilled's non-existent defence.
The Birds were more lively in the second half, characterized by two wonderful solo runs by Kadak and Paullin respectively, which saw them bypass two or three men at a time. Unfortunately, Andrzej Pakiet proved to be an insurmountable obstacle in the Codingin goal, otherwise Grilled would have been good value for a draw.
Codingin played out the last fifteen minutes with ten men after Baselier repeated his first-half performance of kicking the ball away, which earned him a second yellow and ironic applause from the Grilled contigent. That was to be the sum of Grilled's satisfaction, however, as van Liere was unable to salvage some pride, with his innovative chip in the final minute drifting just wide.
