Dark skies made the crowd at the stadium today a little nervous, but the rain held off. They fielded: Randall - Marichkov, Salzschlirf, Al-Mahrooqy - Dvergsdal, Omang, Vatn, Hult, Fretheim - Mitasov, Saratlija.

The following players had been selected: Germanakos - Keng Chuan, 其材 (Qicai) - Reddy, Thach, Kwang Tse, Khairul, Parada - Reece, Thoroddsen, Tokarz.

It was to be a contest between two different football philosophies, since the home team started the game with a 3-5-2 formation while the visitors instead opted for a 2-5-3. Using their divine (+2) (22) skill, Nordby pushed their attacks towards the wings. Grilled used their divine (+8) (28) ability to concentrate their attacks in the middle of the field. After 10 minutes cheers broke out as Karl Vatn found his way through the guests' central defensive line, rattling the 1 - 0 goal in off the woodwork for Nordby. Grilled players heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their wing attacks to the middle instead. The visitors almost came back with an equalizer 26 minutes into the match after a good combination down the middle, but Joe Reece didn't get enough power behind the attempted finish to seriously challenge the keeper. Big paper red cards were being held up by the opposing supporters with 34 minutes on the clock after Aw Keng Chuan's mistimed tackle from behind. The referee only showed the Grilled player a yellow card though. A well-executed free kick by Plamen Marichkov after 35 minutes made it 2 - 0 for Nordby. Grilled's Brian 'Was Born' Reddy has always shown the ability to do what no one expects him to do... this time he ran over an opposing defender, snatched the ball and passed to Joe Reece who hit it hard into the wide open goal: 2 - 1! Brian 'Was Born' Reddy made a run for the goal 38 minutes into the game but the home team's left side was too well defended and the attack fizzled out. Central attacks were the recipe of the day for Grilled, and they were successfully passing the ball from the wing into the middle at the behest of their coach. After 41 minutes, the visitors evened the score after 夏 (Ha) 其材 (Qicai) made it through the middle and struck home making it 2 - 2. 2 - 2 was the score after the first half. Let's go to the Twittersphere to see what the fans think of the game so far! says Grilled had a good opportunity to score the go-ahead goal after a combination on the right but the home team's keeper Deon Randall saved Mohd Marzuki Khairul's shot that was headed straight to the top corner. Nordby's Leidulf Hult rushed past his defender and should have scored, but the finish was just wide, taking some paint off the post as it went out. Grilled took the lead 66 minutes into the game, making the score 2 - 3 after some elegant movement down the middle. Brian 'Was Born' Reddy was the scorer. With the clock showing 70 minutes, the fourth official held up the substitution board. Orest Tokarz looked to see that it was his number in red, so he made his way over to the sideline and swapped out for Evandro La Face, though he would have liked to continue. After 70 minutes, the Grilled coach wanted to see a new face on the field, waving Chia Kwang Tse off. Lim An Keng took his place. It was obvious that Grilled had instructions to attack in the middle when they directed a break on the wing into the center of the park. After 70 minutes, Grilled's Chad Thach burst through the central defense and let loose a cannonball of a shot, scoring for 2 - 4. Feeling like a boy about to meet his girlfriend's father for the first time, the inexperienced Grilled struggled to maintain their level of play after 71 minutes. The home club's fans got back into the match when Ratko Saratlija broke through the visitors' central defense and caught their keeper napping, making it 3 - 4. Grilled's Evandro La Face received a ball slotted perfectly through the home side's central defense after 82 minutes, and chipped it past the helpless keeper to increase the lead to 3 - 5. The away fans won't regret traveling for this one! At 83 minutes into the game, Nordby's Leidulf Hult cooly knocked the ball home after an impressive run down the left, reducing the visitors' lead to 4 - 5. The referee showed Grilled's Evandro La Face the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. A beautiful, arcing corner kick from Plamen Marichkov found Karl Vatn at the far post, soaring to meet the ball. The keeper is late and he's headed it in for 5 - 5! The referee decided to let play continue for an additional 4 beyond the regular 90 minutes. The match ends 5 - 5. Looks like Nate Silver was right again - his prediction that Nordby would have 51 percent possession in this half was spot on!

Nordby's best player was Leidulf Hult. Speaking of stinking up the place, Nils Salzschlirf sure smelled like the bottom of Batman's shoe after a night of crimefighting in Gotham. Most important Grilled player was Gústav Thoroddsen. You can tell it was nickel beer night yesterday at the local bar because Dimitris Germanakos seemed to stumble all over the pitch.