The crowd turning up at the stadium today were greeted with some nasty showers of rain. The rain was pouring down, it was the kind of weather favoured by strong players who stick to simple football. For players possessing of speed or technical skills, the day really was as grim as for everyone else. Lineup: Vasankari - Kasimopoulos, Nağıyev - Ress, Dier, Ros, Heyll, Rashid - Nahkala, Zwinggi, Derdziak.

The following players had been selected: Dob - Webb, Panigrahi - Künzler, Xin Lee, Mohammad Harun, Muthyala, Dong Chu - Egan, Parvathaneni, Xin Seng.

The teams stopped and stared at each other - it was like they were looking in a mirror, since they both lined up in a 2-5-3 formation. With 2 minutes gone, the home side took a 1 - 0 lead as Joonas Nahkala raced down the right flank and casually flipped the ball into the net after a searing cross from the far side of the pitch. 5 minutes into the match, Grilled's Cyril Künzler missed a penalty. This was not his day. The crowd was silenced 8 minutes into the match as the visiting team's Neeraj Muthyala came in from the left, tying the game up at 1 - 1. The game had been going for 15 minutes when Enrico Heyll came in on the right, feinted, then sped past the off-balance defender to put away the 2 - 1 goal, giving Magic the lead. Moey Xin Seng finished off a quick charge from the left of the field by chipping the ball just over the home side's keeper, making the score 2 - 2 28 minutes into the game. 2 - 2 was the score after the first half. Grilled did a good job holding on to the ball, with 55 percent of possession. We'll be back after these interminable commercial messages.

60 minutes into the match, Grilled nearly took the lead, as Kalki Parvathaneni broke through on the right. However, Aatu Vasankari made the save. With the clock showing 60 minutes, the fourth official held up the substitution board. Bernie Egan looked to see that it was his number in red, so he made his way over to the sideline and swapped out for Islom Davlatov, though he would have liked to continue. As the 60 minute mark approached, the Grilled manager decided it was time for a substitution. Chu Xin Lee reluctantly made way for Chan Ze Han. 63 minutes into the game, Bilal Mohammad Harun almost gave the visitors the lead, as he chipped a delicate lob over the keeper, but the ball glanced harmlessly off the crossbar. Bilal Mohammad Harun seemed to fly off the ground as the corner came into the box, but his header went straight to the man on the post. 2 - 3 was the score after 71 minutes, when Grilled's Heng Dong Chu cut through the central defense and pounded one in. With 75 minutes played, Grilled put themselves up 2 - 4 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. The scorer was Heng Dong Chu. 79 minutes into the match, Moey Xin Seng came through the middle and almost added to his team's lead, but the shot went wide. The players were tired, but when the referee announced that there would be 1 minutes of added time, they welcomed the extra opportunity to make an impact. The match ends 2 - 4. Grilled set the tempo, maintaining 55 percent of possession.

Joonas Nahkala performed admirably for Magic. Speaking of stinking up the place, Hans Ulrich Ress sure smelled like the bottom of Batman's shoe after a night of crimefighting in Gotham. Grilled's best player was Moey Xin Seng. Even six year old fans were wincing at the poor play by Gilbert Webb today.