Gone Medieval
Bailón Burying
The Birds would tumble out of the Ravens Trophy at the first hurdle, with Romanian fourth division representatives House of Tudor giving no quarter, notching five past
Valentin Batâr in a hectic - if extremely lopsided - first half. Grilled would prevail in a completely-chanced second half that saw
Tian Yonghang score the only goal, but there was never a serious hint of overturning the match.
Grilled had made it to the last sixteen against eventual champions Stavromula Beta F.C. in the last edition, but it was soon clear that advancement was unlikely. Norwegian sweeper Lau Alrøe would be a mobile brick wall that none of the Birds' forwards managed to figure out, but the same could hardly be said of Filippone and Hoàng, at the other end.
Tudor had just participated in an 8-1 slaughter in cup competition, and whenever they regained possession, the will to move it forward as briskly as possible was well evident. High activity on their left side drew most of Grilled's attentions, with Andrei Doicescu showing a penchant for doubling-up on an overtaxed Hoàng.
As with Grilled, Tudor had a home-bred midfield core, but they were if anything even more attuned to each other, having stayed as a unit since their pre-teens. That deep understanding came into play in the 22nd minute when Valentin Vasiliu just knew where Tudorică Barbul would be, and while there was an element of fortune in how Barbul clipped his shot, there was no denying that it was a quite aesthetic goal.
Grilled were still fighting, and Nakakita posed Tudor some issues with his strong runs, but Alrøe was quite immovable. The wingers were unusually subdued, though, and
Florus Romijn's worrying tendency to give the ball away in bad positions surfaced again in the 29th. Cezar Bobariu then took over as Filippone struggled to bring the deflected pass under control, and Batâr went to ground far too easily. 2-0.
The Birds responded badly, which when coinciding with an amped-up Tudor side, meant very bad news;
Moey Xin Seng tried to organize a resistance, but would up being given the run-around by Ciprian Fudulică. A number of paths opened up on the right, and Fudulică eventually flighted it over to Bogdan Săndulea, whose run-on volley just barely crept in.
It was all but over with that, and technically-adept Mexican striker Andrés Bailón would grab two more against the defeated Grilled players. His first, a fading header, demonstrated his vast arsenal of finishing touches, while a drilled strike three minutes later was a rather more typical effort.
Grilled deserved credit for summoning up some defiance despite being crushed in the first forty-five minutes, and they enjoyed a far more optimistic start, when the game resumed. With nothing left to lose, they began hitting it about in a more intuitive and less structured fashion, which ironically turned out to be what would make the Tudor defence uncomfortable.
Alrøe, who had been all but flawless before this, had that facade finally crack in the 51st minute.
Mohammad Ramli Saliman would bedazzle him with a classy trick, and this would leave
Ang Leong Kum the room he needed, to power a shot at the top corner. Unfortunately, it spun a bit too strongly, and shaved the crossbar before smashing an unwitting spectator's drink.
The Birds dug in, but kept coming up slightly short, with Peruvian goalkeeper Rómulo Vesga proving himself a superb last resort. Without much other choice, they sent
Tian Yonghang on in the 70th minute, and Grilled's evergreen forward distinguished himself by knocking it in with his first touch.
Tian had definitely not been sleeping on the bench, and his observations bore instant fruit. His odd run right into the sliver between Alrøe and his rightback could surely not have been down to mere luck, and the decisive finish gave the sense of being every inch as preplanned.
This was about all Grilled could muster up, however, and they seemed satisfied at having made a point.
Tian Yonghang soldiered on like an old campaigner, but found good service hard to come by, especially with the recent packed schedule apparently having taken a toll on
Cyril Künzler.
Gene Filippone would put in an impressive tackle on Andrés Bailón after 75 minutes, for which he was wrongly booked.
Tudor got one last attempt on the Grilled goal late on, as they went for the outlandish from a choreographed free-kick. It would have taken a pretty hopeless defence to fall for that one, but then again, it was not as if they were wanting for goals.
