Grilled 3 - 4 Veles
3289 punters turned up at
The Cooking Pot, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came.
Luis Rubalcaba was the appointed referee with assistance provided by
Horst Odenhausen and
Florian Hanf. Grilled's starters:
Germanakos -
Jaška,
Hutter -
Baena,
Thach,
An Keng,
Khairul,
Parada -
Reece,
Ming Xin,
Tokarz.
Veles fielded:
Ognjanovski -
Kikerovski,
Karadzovski,
Januzi,
Bojaxhiu -
Trpkov,
Stojkov,
Derveni,
Shkrela,
Simonoski -
Karadzovski.
Grilled Birds started the game in a 2-5-3 formation, whereas FC Veles lined up in a 4-5-1 formation. Grilled used their divine (20) ability to concentrate their attacks in the middle of the pitch, rather than on the wings. Veles were relying on their titanic (15) ability to counter-attack. Some great play up the middle by Grilled led to a chance for
Joe Reece to score after 5 minutes, but the shot hit the crossbar. Grilled made it 1 - 0 as
Joe Reece got a touch to the floated corner kick and flicked the ball to
Damian Hutter who whipped a low drive in off the far post.
Phua Ming Xin should probably have put his team up another goal after 18 minutes after breaking through the middle, but some great goalkeeping by
Oliver Ognjanovski kept the visitors in the game.
Pere Simonoski finished off the counterattack of Veles from the left rather easily, making the score 1 - 1. Grilled had a good opportunity to attack on the wing, but remembered their instructions to go for middle attacks. Grilled's
Radovan Jaška tried to break through in the middle repeatedly, but couldn't get past the visitors' defenders.
Mitre Stojkov stunned the crowd with a brilliant counterattack from the left, giving Veles the goal to make it 1 - 2. Halftime score was 1 - 2. Grilled claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 81 percent.
Some fine passing in the middle of the pitch, carving open the away defence, should have led to a goal for Grilled, but
Mohd Marzuki Khairul's shot went over the bar. 48 minutes into the game,
Hristo Kikerovski finished off a Veles left wing counterattack, making the score 1 - 3. The home side worked hard to get through the middle and as a result, had a good chance of getting one back as
Lim An Keng tried lifting the ball over keeper
Oliver Ognjanovski. Unfortunately, the ball went just over the bar.
Damian Hutter charged down the left and looked sure to score for Grilled 66 minutes into the game, but his shot went just wide. Veles played a good counterattacking move down the left 67 minutes into the match, with
Mic Derveni finishing well for 1 - 4. Grilled reduced the lead to 2 - 4 with 77 minutes on the clock when
Federico Parada got the best of a ball floated in from the left. 89 minutes into the match, the referee signalled for a Grilled substitution.
Paulino Trindade came on for
Enrique Baena.
Phua Ming Xin would have preferred to play on, but his coach decided otherwise.
Gandhik Chitre entered the game for Grilled as the match clock showed 89 minutes. As the 89 minute mark approached, the Grilled coach decided it was time for a substitution.
Damian Hutter reluctantly made way for
冬馬 (Toma) 田宮 (Tamiya) on the pitch. The referee decided to let play continue for an additional 2 minutes beyond the regular 90 minutes. With a penalty awarded after 90 minutes, Grilled's
Radovan Jaška placed the ball low and to the keeper's right, impossible to block. 3 - 4. The match ends 3 - 4. Grilled enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 82 percent of possession.
Federico Parada performed admirably for Grilled. However,
冬馬 (Toma) 田宮 (Tamiya) made a disastrous appearance. Most important Veles player was
Hristo Kikerovski.
Sali Shkrela on the other hand, had a terrible day.