We had overcast weather free of rain at the stadium today. The following players took the field: Perdente - Saner, Norma - Speziari, Akhade, Jasnić, Tavora, Zuban - Pellissone, Al Beef, Kalaj.

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

As the teams spread out over the pitch, it became clear that they would both be using a 2-5-3 formation today. Grilled used their divine (+5) ability to concentrate their attacks in the middle of the field. Proving that a foot massage and a pre-game pedicure can work wonders, Kuno Speziari sent a rocket into the box from the corner, finding Iwan Saner, who headed it past the keeper with extreme prejudice. 3 minutes in and it's 1 - 0! Goran Jasnić will have Excedrin Headache number 5 after heading home the hard corner kick from Kuno Speziari after 9 minutes of play. I'm sure that making the score 2 - 0 will assuage him a bit, though. 15 minutes into the match, the visitors' central line of defense had to look on as Angelo Pellissone ran straight through, knocking one home to make it 3 - 0 for Tapja-Oravad. Grilled's Bernie Egan was shown a yellow card after 36 minutes for slicing down an opponent. A magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Tapja-Oravad's Angelo Pellissone bringing the lead up to 4 - 0. Tapja-Oravad solidified their lead at the 41 minute mark, as Nasser Al Beef snaked the ball through the central line of defense and finished for 5 - 0. Kalki Parvathaneni had a good opportunity to reply with a break through the middle, but the home team's goalkeeper Sergio Perdente just wouldn't be beat. Tapja-Oravad's Nasser Al Beef had an excellent opportunity 44 minutes in, shooting after bringing down a ball from the right, but he missed the goal by miles! Halftime score was 5 - 0. Grilled had the upper hand in possession, maintaining an impressive 53 percent possession of the ball.

46 minutes into the game, Grilled wanted to bring some new energy to their game. Chu Xin Lee gave Chan Ze Han a quick hug as he left the field. Things were going from bad to worse for the visitors. Nasser Al Beef was able to squirm through the central defense after 46 minutes and score, bringing the lead to 6 - 0. The visitors got a chance to pulling one back after 56 minutes, due to a defensive blunder leaving Bernie Egan completely unmarked. His strike was pathetic though, rolling slowly to the home side's keeper. After more pushing and shoving than a pack of helicopter moms trying to get the last appointment for their snowflakes to see the Easter Bunny, Tapja-Oravad's Víctor Tavora finally got himself booked for a foul. Tapja-Oravad added another goal to their lead as Salil Akhade struck home for 7 - 0 after an attack from the left set him up unmarked in front of the keeper. Angelo Pellissone gave Tapja-Oravad supporters even more to cheer about when he increased the lead to 8 - 0 after 76 minutes, following a good exchange of passes on the right that the away team failed to deal with. One, two, three goals! That completed a hattrick for Angelo Pellissone. AH! AH! AH! After 80 minutes, the Grilled coach wanted to see a new face on the field, waving Moey Xin Seng off. Vikram Mudaliar took his place. As Grilled's captain went off, he handed the armband to Chan Ze Han. It was announced by the fourth official that he estimated stoppage time to be around 3 minutes. This meant there could still be an extra attack or two left in the match! Grilled certainly deserved a goal after some stunning play down the left, but Bilal Mohammad Harun just wasn't able to finish. The match ends 8 - 0. Looks like Nate Silver was right again - his prediction that Grilled would have 52 percent possession in this half was spot on!

Tapja-Oravad's best player was Maltin Kalaj. Speaking of stinking up the place, Iwan Saner sure smelled like the bottom of Batman's shoe after a night of crimefighting in Gotham. The most outstanding Grilled player was without a doubt Kalki Parvathaneni. Even six year old fans were wincing at the poor play by Gilbert Webb today.