Donkeys Konged
Allan Two
Grilled whipped Israeli side Herzliya Donkeys FC at The Cooking Pot, as the red-and-sky blue clad visitors looked completely out of sorts under the tropical thunderstorm. The Donkeys played to their strengths by packing five at the back, but the soggy ground made it hard for them to counterattack effectively.
The visitors boasted a balanced cosmopolitan team, but the lack of stars contrasted starkly to Grilled's XI, which included not only a strong first-team defence, but also the craft of Martinsson. The Swede was indispensable in the Birds' first goal, brushing the ball expertly to one side for Ødegaard to rush in and ripple the net with his formidable effort.
Youth squad promotee
Qiu Swee Pheng gave himself encouragement with a confident run even when surrounded by opposition players, as he slipped by Mange Mohammed and zipped the ball by Donkeys fan favourite Charles Chandler. The visitors had Shalev Peretz booked, but made a fight of it with a dominating header from Latvian midfielder Paulis Zaremba.
That proved to be extremely bad for the visiting side, as it spurred a three-goal reprisal from Grilled before half time. Sid shouldered the responsibility for putting distance between the Birds and the Donkeys with an out-of-character surge through the middle, while Qiu and Allan recorded braces.
The second half was much less eventful as the rain cooled Grilled's ardour, and also bogged down some of their most promising moves. Martinsson's normally sure touch deserted him, as he fluffed a couple of shots, while the Donkeys searched for another consolation goal, and got a flying save off the steady Abed-Sulaiman.
Lee Jie Siong was guilty of poor sportsmanship late on as he cut Peretz down after the opposition midfielder had hustled him off the ball, and he might have argued his booking had cooler heads not guided him away from the referee.
