As the teams spread out over the pitch, it became clear that they would both be using a 2-5-3 formation today.For their match strategy, Saints had decided to use their weak ability to counter-attack whenever possible.Grilled clearly preferred using their mythical ability to attack in the middle.�ngel Rico Garrido looked great 3 minutes into the match after stopping a shot from the middle of the penalty area from the visitors' Iman Eshrafi.After 4 minutes, Grilled's Moey Xin Seng" class="awayplayer">Moey Xin Seng made his way through the middle and nonchalantly placed the ball out of the keeper's reach, putting the visitors up 0 - 1.Due to some great work on the right wing Saints's Eun-Kyoo Chae was able to even the score after 8 minutes to make the score 1 - 1.Grilled's Iman Eshrafi gave the visitors a 1 - 2 lead after 28 minutes with a superb strike from the right.Saints needed a fresh pair of legs on the field, and after 38 minutes Sean Hemsley made way for Andy Blakemore.Halftime score was 1 - 2.Possession in this half belonged to Grilled, who controlled the ball 55 percent of the time.
Although the whole team were struggling to impress, Saints's Bill Wright was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 46 minutes. Ieuan Webb was given a chance to change things around.The crowd chanted their encouragement as Saints's Sigi Rydiker came in from the right after 51 minutes and put the ball in the net to level the score at 2 - 2.Saints fans held their breath as Adrian Schaefer scampered down the left side. He successfully avoided all challenges and cracked home the shot for 3 - 2!With 73 minutes played, Mohammad Ramli Saliman of Grilled fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving.With 76 minutes played, the visitors could have drawn level after Kalki Parvathaneni" class="awayplayer">Kalki Parvathaneni came through the middle, but his shot went wide.The bench was restless, and with 80 minutes passed Grilled's coach gave Chirag Thevar" class="awayplayer">Chirag Thevar the opportunity the player had been hoping for. Prokop Mottl" class="awayplayer">Prokop Mottl reluctantly left the field.Given a free kick in a difficult position after 81 minutes, Saints tried a variation that they had practised in training. The kick was sent into the area just in front of the keeper. However, the defence were on their toes and allowed no space for a finish.Grilled players heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their wing attacks to the middle instead.Grilled had a chance to level the scores as Kalki Parvathaneni" class="awayplayer">Kalki Parvathaneni suddenly found himself free in the middle of the box with only the keeper to beat, but he misjudged the finish, and only managed to hit the bar.A sublimely cunning counterattack by Saints resulted in the awarding of a free kick that Sigi Rydiker brutally hammered, twisting it mid-flight past the flailing hands of the keeper and into the net - 4 - 2!Saints increased the lead as Ieuan Webb struck to make the score 5 - 2 after an attack from the left left him unmarked in front of the keeper.With 89 minutes played, the Grilled coach decided a substitution may help turn the game around. Leonard Nguyen" class="awayplayer">Leonard Nguyen came on, Mohammad Ramli Saliman had to leave the fray.The referee decided to let play continue for an additional 1 minute beyond the regular 90 minutes.The match ends 5 - 2.Neither team were able to dominate possession this half.
