Zebras 1 - 4 Grilled
The crowd of 2295 turning up at
Zebra Park today were greeted with some nasty showers of rain.
Jacob Adrian Fröbner was the appointed referee with assistance provided by
Tauro Abitera and
Rubén Portillo. The pitch was a disaster, due to all the rain. This spelled problems for the more sophisticated players, who usually could rely on speed or technique. For those relying on grit and strength, it actually meant an edge. The following players had been chosen by Zebras:
Zoyiswa -
Maposa,
Rasuping,
Rahube -
Moloi,
Ratanang,
Mophuting,
Kopi,
Phiri -
Rahube,
Phiri.
Grilled's starters:
Dob -
Jeftić,
Panigrahi -
敬龙 (Jinglong),
Kamel,
Xin Lee,
ter Berg,
Dong Chu -
Egan,
Parvathaneni,
Xin Seng.
It was to be a contest between two different football philosophies, since the home team started the game with a 3-5-2 formation while the visitors instead opted for 2-5-3. Grilled used their divine (+7) (27) ability to concentrate their attacks in the middle of the pitch, rather than on the wings. It was obvious that team Grilled had instructions to attack in the middle instead of on the wings. A mistake by the home side's central defence after 2 minutes allowed
Kalle ter Berg to score for Grilled. The scoreboard now read 0 - 1. Grilled's
Kalle ter Berg was shown a yellow card after 5 minutes for slicing down an opponent.
No matter how hard he tried,
Ofentse Rahube just couldn't get his shot past the visitors' right side defence after 6 minutes. 33 minutes in, Grilled's
Bhavya Panigrahi received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first.
Mateja Jeftić increased Grilled's lead to 0 - 2 with a superb free kick strike that flew in just under the far top corner. A marvellous Zebras effort on the right-hand side resulted in a goal after 37 minutes by
Ofentse Rahube, making the score 1 - 2. The teams went for the halftime break at 1 - 2. Grilled enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 52 percent of possession.
Zebras's
Mookodi Maposa made an attempt at equalising 64 minutes into the match, coming in from the right, but the ball hit the post and the defence easily cleared the rebound. 65 minutes into the match,
Chu Xin Lee came through the middle and almost added to his team's lead, but the shot went wide.
Bernie Egan increased the visitors' lead by putting a volley away after a pass from the right. 1 - 3.
Simisani Phiri almost reduced the deficit, having drawn the entire left side defence away, but the shot went straight into the arms of the goalkeeper. Having just succeeded in blocking a dangerous counter attack, the defending team was outwitted by the follow-up Grilled free kick. The routine was expertly executed as the ball was shifted quickly to one side of the box, then back to the other.
Moey Xin Seng appeared on cue near the post, and steered it past the goalie. 1 - 4, after 73 minutes. 80 minutes into the match, the referee signalled for a Grilled substitution.
悠太 (Yuta) 中北 (Nakakita) came on for
Bhavya Panigrahi. It was announced by the referee that he estimated stoppage time to be around 2 minutes. This meant there could still be an extra attack or two left in the match!
Ofentse Rahube tried to get a goal back for Zebras but despite all his hard work down the right, he just couldn't complete the move. The match ends 1 - 4. Possession in this half belonged to Grilled, who controlled the ball 53 percent of the time.
The most dominating Zebras player was without a doubt
Quintisha Ratanang.
Dingane Zoyiswa turned in a dismal performance, however. Grilled's top performer was clearly
Moey Xin Seng.
悠太 (Yuta) 中北 (Nakakita) was a disappointment, however.