Grilled 6 - 4 Maradonnas
The weather was pretty good, and a crowd of 6250 had shown up at
The Cooking Pot for the match.
Gian Luigi Munegato was the appointed referee with assistance provided by
Duarte Tavares Ramos and
Haroon Abdulwahed Al-Rawahy. Grilled fielded:
Vadalà -
Mangoye,
Jaška -
Baena,
Kwang Tse,
Chitre,
Teck Fu,
Keng Chuan -
Ferzan,
Chuan Yong,
Mohammad Harun.
The following players took the field for Maradonnas:
Sabet -
Al-Siyaby,
Khadhemi -
Macías,
Ramos,
Prada,
Možina,
Al-Habsi -
Shirazi,
Monk,
Vega.
As the teams prepared to start the match, they both lined up in a 2-5-3 formation. Some good play on the left wing created an opportunity for the visitors 7 minutes into the match, and
Guillermo Macías wasn't about to let it go by. He got past the defenders and fired a shot that the keeper just missed. 0 - 1 for the visitors. After 20 minutes of play,
Aw Keng Chuan equalised for Grilled after an elegant attack from the right. Some great play up the middle by Grilled led to a chance for
Gandhik Chitre to score after 21 minutes, but the shot hit the crossbar. It wasn't a pretty goal, but the free kick by
Teo Chuan Yong after 22 minutes somehow found its way past the keeper. Grilled takes the lead, 2 - 1! Halftime score was 2 - 1. Grilled had most of the ball, with 51 percent of possession.
As the 46 minute mark approached, the Grilled coach decided it was time for a substitution.
Enrique Baena reluctantly made way for
Paulino Trindade on the pitch. After 60 minutes, the Grilled coach wanted to see a new face on the pitch, waving
Bilal Mohammad Harun off the field.
Kalki Parvathaneni took his place. The Grilled captaincy was handed to
Teo Chuan Yong. The visitors kept the pressure on to tie the game when, after 72 minutes,
Sergio Vega broke through the centre and found himself alone with the keeper.
Manuel Vadalà made a great block, though.
Ameen Shirazi showed off his impressive physique as he first forced the defenders to make an error, then easily snapped up the ball and scored for Maradonnas, making it 2 - 2. They were singing the praises of
Radovan Jaška 73 minutes into the match after his speculative chip from the middle of the penalty box found its way over the visitors' keeper to make the score 3 - 2 to Grilled.
Guillermo Macías's speed is always a threat when he gets a little room to move, and 74 minutes into the match was no different as he broke free of his man to send a delightful through ball to
Qassim Al-Habsi who knocked it in for Maradonnas. 3 - 3! One of many good crosses from
Paulino Trindade on the wing was received and skillfully taken care of by
Chia Kwang Tse, who scored for Grilled. 4 - 3
Teo Chuan Yong almost put Grilled ahead another goal when he curled a free kick over the defensive wall and almost into the net, but the visitors' keeper got there just in time to knock it wide.
Qassim Al-Habsi tied the game at 4 - 4 after 77 minutes, when he converted an incredible pass from the right. 85 minutes into the game, Grilled wanted to bring some new energy to their game.
Aw Keng Chuan gave
Ibnou Balde a quick hug as he left the field. 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! After 89 minutes of play,
Chia Kwang Tse gave the home team a 5 - 4 lead after an attack coming in from the right. After 89 minutes, the away team failed to deal with a good exchange of passes on the right, and
Chia Kwang Tse gave the Grilled supporters even more to cheer about when he increased the lead to 6 - 4. At that,
Chia Kwang Tse was noted down for a hat trick! The match ends 6 - 4. Grilled claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 51 percent.
Hwang Teck Fu performed admirably for Grilled. On the other hand,
Radovan Jaška's play was disheartening. Most important Maradonnas player was
Carlos Maria Ramos. However,
Bradley Monk made a disastrous appearance.