captains 1 - 6 Grilled
It was a scorching day at the stadium today. The weather was sunny, which meant perfect conditions for technical players in both teams. However, it was also quite warm, which meant quick or physically strong players were drained faster and couldn't play their best game. Starters:
Buursink -
Allen,
Dantz,
Larrondo -
Stevens,
Rökman,
Moustapha,
Artoos,
Tuohenmaa -
Vanbranteghem,
Giangiulio.
Lineup:
Salmiņš -
Carapaica,
Webb -
Kamel,
Chuan Yong,
ter Berg,
Mohammad Harun,
Dong Chu -
Ze Han,
Egan,
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 a 2-5-3. After 19 minutes, Grilled sent a free kick in high over the penalty box. In what looked like a well-rehearsed move, the ball was headed backwards and reached
Moey Xin Seng, who had plenty of time to shoot and score - 0 - 1. A defender managed to keep the ball from crossing the goal-line after a curling shot from the right by
Moey Xin Seng beat the keeper with 22 minutes played, preventing Grilled from going up another goal. Grilled's
Chan Ze Han received a ball slotted perfectly through the home side's central defense after 28 minutes, and chipped it past the helpless keeper to increase the lead to 0 - 2. The away fans won't regret traveling for this one! 38 minutes into the match, captains's
Jimi Tuohenmaa chased down a ball sent down the right and put it into the back of the net, narrowing the score to 1 - 2. The referee showed Grilled's
Douglas Carapaica the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. The home crowd was not impressed when
Bernie Egan came in from the right, shooting hard to score after 40 minutes. Grilled were now up 1 - 3. captains's coach was furious with
Baldo Giangiulio after he picked up a yellow for saying one too many words to the ref. The teams went for the halftime break at 1 - 3. Grilled did a good job holding on to the ball, with 63 percent of possession. We'll be back after these interminable commercial messages.
46 minutes into the match, the referee signaled for a Grilled substitution.
Kalki Parvathaneni came on for
Salah Kamel. With the clock showing 46 minutes, the fourth official held up the substitution board.
Kalle ter Berg looked to see that it was his number in red, so he made his way over to the sideline and swapped out for
Chu Xin Lee, though he would have liked to continue.
Chan Ze Han increased the visitors' lead by volleying in a pass from the right. 1 - 4. The referee signaled a penalty 65 minutes into the game following a foul that was right on the line.
Gilbert Webb knocked it home to make the score 1 - 5. 70 minutes into the game, Grilled wanted to bring some new energy to their game.
Gilbert Webb gave
Bhavya Panigrahi a quick hug as he left the field. With
Gilbert Webb no longer on the field,
Bhavya Panigrahi stepped up to be the new set pieces taker. Grilled increased the lead to 1 - 6 as
Bhavya Panigrahi scored from the penalty spot, putting the ball in the top left corner. The fourth official announced that there would be 2 minutes of stoppage time, giving fans a slim hope that their team could get one more attack in before this was all over. The match ends 1 - 6. Grilled set the tempo, maintaining 63 percent of possession.
captains's top performer was clearly
Huub Buursink. Speaking of stinking up the place,
Zhoran Vanbranteghem sure smelled like the bottom of Batman's shoe after a night of crimefighting in Gotham.
Chan Ze Han performed admirably for Grilled. Even six year old fans were wincing at the poor play by
Kalki Parvathaneni today.