Titus 2 - 7 Grilled
Dark skies made the crowd of 28000 at
Alpha Centuari a little nervous, but the rain held off.
Marwan Al-Mualla was the appointed referee with assistance provided by
Claude Peloux and
Ábel Cinke. The following players had been chosen by Titus:
Gélis -
Dojas,
Kiong Hao,
Thomann -
Jin Rong,
Kanelakis,
Densi,
Hawwash,
Han Loong -
Aleksiejew,
Podlesnikar.
The following players took the field for Grilled:
Germanakos -
Keng Chuan,
其材 (Qicai) -
Ferzan,
Thach,
An Keng,
Khairul,
Trindade -
Reece,
Ming Xin,
Tokarz.
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. Titus took a outstanding (10) creative approach on the field. Grilled saw most attack opportunities on the wings, taking advantage of their divine (+1) (21) level with that tactic. It was obvious that Grilled had instructions to attack on the wings instead of in the middle. Grilled took the lead after 11 minutes making the score 0 - 1.
Phua Ming Xin placed the ball out of reach for the home side's keeper after a fine move, coming in from the left.
Joe Reece of Grilled was booked for kicking the ball away after the whistle. Titus tried to even things up by sending a long ball towards the centrally placed strikers, but the visitors' defence got the best of this rather direct style of play. With 22 minutes played, a quick exchange of passes on the left wing freed
Egemen Dinçer Ferzan of Grilled to slip through the defence and score another goal for the visitors. That made the score 0 - 2. After 30 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for
Egemen Dinçer Ferzan who increased Grilled's lead to 0 - 3. 33 minutes into the match, the visitors put themselves ahead 0 - 4 as
Chad Thach finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. A marvellous Titus effort on the right-hand side resulted in a goal after 38 minutes by
Ermenegildo Densi, making the score 1 - 4. Grilled were determined to attack on the wing and their central attempts were constantly abandoned in favour of the wings. The home crowd was not impressed when
Mohd Marzuki Khairul came in from the right, shooting hard to score after 39 minutes. Grilled were now up 1 - 5. Grilled's
Phua Ming Xin was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 40 minutes. After 41 minutes, following yet another great corner,
Ermenegildo Densi's flick on at the near post reached
Quek Kiong Hao, who was just wide with his snapshot - the ball went out for a goal kick. Titus's
Humberto Dojas got himself booked for a foul.
Aw Keng Chuan went down after twisting his left ankle in minute 43, but was able to continue the match none the less. It was 1 - 5 at the break. Grilled had most of the ball, with 57 percent of possession.
Grilled increased their lead after 54 minutes when
Egemen Dinçer Ferzan broke through on the right, upping the score to 1 - 6, much to the home crowd's dismay. By then
Egemen Dinçer Ferzan had scored three goals - a hat trick! After 55 minutes, a mistake by the home side's left defence allowed
Phua Ming Xin to get through. He outclassed the home side's keeper, adding another goal for the visitors. 1 - 7.
Josip Hawwash was the first to reach the corner kick, but his header was blocked by the keeper. However, Titus's
Naoum Kanelakis managed to get hold of the rebound and tucked the ball into the empty net. 2 - 7 The crowd groaned when
Eugeniusz Aleksiejew, having maneuvered his way down the right, fired the ball just wide and missed a great opportunity to reduce the deficit for Titus. The Grilled players could smell victory in the air.
Aw Keng Chuan wasn't in a hurry to leave the field as he was substituted for
Damian Hutter after 60 minutes. As
Aw Keng Chuan exited the field,
Phua Ming Xin volunteered to be the new set pieces taker. Titus's
Ermenegildo Densi managed a superb strike from the left after 64 minutes that would have left goalkeeper
Dimitris Germanakos without a chance, had it not hit the post. 89 minutes into the match, the referee signalled for a Grilled substitution.
Ibnou Balde came on for
Chad Thach. The referee announced 5 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 2 - 7. Grilled enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 58 percent of possession.
Kang Jin Rong performed admirably for Titus. On the other hand,
Antonin Gélis's play was disheartening. The most dominating Grilled player was without a doubt
Mohd Marzuki Khairul.
Damian Hutter was a disappointment, however.