STOP 3 - 4 Grilled
12 spectators had come to House of Peace and Pleasure this cloudy day.
Gustaaf Milbouw was the appointed referee with assistance provided by
Gábor Koppány and
Ramiro Ariel Tombolini. STOP tactics involved an interesting 5-3-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Greep - Louwsma, Dmitrishin, van der Maat, Gabryelski, Bliemer - Gelderlander, Blokzijl, van den Abeelen - van Heemst, Nisstrand.
Grilled decided to use a 4-4-2 set up. The following players took the field: Bao-Tam - Mirchev, Behr, Ãrva, 顺国 (Shunguo) - 剑勇 (Jianyong) , Branbilla, MacKinnon, bin Mustapa - Salieri, 力海 (Lihai) .
STOP were relying on their ability to counter-attack. Grilled took the lead by 0 to 1 after
John MacKinnon curved a free kick into the net. The referee showed Grilled's
Matthias Branbilla the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. With the crowd on their feet chanting wildly, some great moves down the right hand side after 39 minutes gave STOP a wonderful opportunity to level the score, and
Eberhart van den Abeelen stepped up to the challenge, netting the 1 - 1 goal. After 41 minutes, Grilled sent a free kick in high over the penalty box. In what looked like a well-rehearsed move, the ball was headed backwards and reached
Ronny Behr, who had plenty of space to place a well aimed shot and score the 1 - 2 goal. It was 1 - 2 at the break. The forty-five minutes were dominated by Grilled, with an impressive 71 percent possession of the ball.
With 46 minutes played, the STOP coach decided a substitution may help turn the game around.
Raymon van Dalen came on,
Driekus van der Maat had to leave the fray. The STOP captaincy was handed to
Raymon van Dalen. A quick breakout from defence by STOP forced the opponent's defender to give away a freekick.
Raymon van Dalen was allowed to take it quickly by the referee, much to the dismay of the goalkeeper who wasn't prepared. 2 - 2! The defenders were clearly outwitted by Grilled after 62 minutes. The disciplined free kick combination shifted the ball quickly to one side of the box, then back to the other.
é„ (Zheng) 力海 (Lihai) appeared on cue near the post, and steered it past the goalie. 2 - 3. Grilled's
æŽ (Li) 顺国 (Shunguo) was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 67 minutes. STOP earned themselves a free kick after a counterattack wasn't dealt with adequately by their opponents.
Raymon van Dalen powered the shot in for 3 - 3. 76 minutes into the match, Grilled nearly took the lead, as
é„ (Zheng) 力海 (Lihai) broke through on the right.
Giancarlo Greep made the save, however. Good work by STOP's defensive line produced a couple of good counterattack chances, one of which cut elegantly down the middle of the pitch and found
Patric Nisstrand alone in front of the goal, but his shot whistled just wide. Given a free kick in a difficult position after 79 minutes, Grilled did not go for a direct shot but instead aimed for the area just in front of the keeper. The attacking players made several runs as the ball was played and made it hard for the defenders to protect their goal. After a short tussle with the defender,
Matthias Branbilla could finally lay the ball to rest behind the keeper. 3 - 4, and proof that it can pay off to come prepared. Grilled claimed to be the more dominant force in the game, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 73 percent.
STOP's top performer was clearly
Vladislav Dmitrishin.
Eli Louwsma on the other hand, had a terrible day. Grilled's best player was
Matthias Branbilla.
Hang Bao-Tam was a disappointment, however. The match ends 3 - 4.