One goal was enough as Grilled sought points in their catch-up mission against heimu XI, as the visiting LA XI scripted a tactical counterattacking gameplan that could very well have seen them squeeze out a draw.

Gleb Dorogan was a surprise inclusion as the midfielder recovered well from his midweek bump, though there was always the chance of further injuries as LA XI hassled Grilled's midfield at every turn. The first one to be hurt was however their own German sweeper Siegfried Zeiner, who ate a boot to the knee as he challenged Rotteveel.

His teammates confronted the Dutchman as Zeiner lay in agony, but the referee, who was not five metres away, ruled that it was an accident. It was clear that Zeiner would not be able to carry on, and youth team promotee Mohd Zulfakri bin Md Jan, who had only been promoted to the senior squad at the beginning of the month, took over in central defence.

He would not enjoy a happy debut, as Grilled scored almost immediately after the restart. Mohd Zulfarki was drawn away by Mohd Safri as Domenik Bögengang advanced down the middle, and LA XI goalie Ramón Jimenez came forward to narrow down the angle. He didn't count on Bögengang's deft lob catching him out and granting the Birds an early lead.

LA XI continued pressing the ball with gusto, and after 25 minutes Ciro Penati suffered a freak injury as he dribbled the ball at speed down the right. He recovered enough to shake Darong's hand as the latter waited to replace him, which suggests that Han had decided to withdraw him more as a precaution than anything.

The visitors, who were also without Aussie midfielder Colin Best due to a back injury, found their best chances after Grilled's attacking moves petered out, and looked likely to cancel out Bögengang's goal as Bastien Edel dashed free with the Grilled backline futilely raising their hands for offside. Valdir was in fine fettle, though, and put up a big hand to ward Edel's strike away from the net.

Kalle Senvall's 52nd minute yellow card added spice to a slow-starting second half, and Bögengang nearly extended Grilled's lead from the free-kick, as he stole it back from the defence and pumped an instant shot towards the bottom near corner, only to see Jimenez come to the rescue.

Rotteveel and Safri, who had quiet outings, combined well to set up the German point man for a thundering effort in the 69th minute, but Jiminez was again on the ball; That nearly led to disaster for Grilled as the quick counterattack left Slovenian midfielder Milan Judež one-on-one with Valdir coming in from the left side. The Birds would survive that, fortunately, as Judež put it over and out.