Belgrade Battle
Lee Rifles Winner
Grilled's final pre-season friendly ended on a high note as a sprightly-looking side took out respected Serbian Division Three club Belgrade Utd in front of over ten thousand spectators on their plush home ground. Neither of Grilled's new signings made their debut, as they have been co-opted into boot camp with Grilled's youth academy kids.
A mixture of first-teamers and second choice men were thrown together, as loyal goalie
Hang Bao-Tam kept goal behind the immensely solid trio of Sid, Bona and Talib, while Chuan Jing, Ødegaard and bin Yaacob were given more opportunities to hobnob with the established elite.
Belgrade, neatly attired in black and white stripes, put their faith in a stingy defence, with Welsh rightback Conrad Finlayson their undisputed star. Like Grilled's own Sid, Finlayson lays claim to a mean right foot from free-kicks.
It didn't go as planned for the home team, what with Han Kok being too hot to handle in the middle. The energetic and still-maturing midfield prodigy slipped under the guard of Belgrade's central defenders as Jie Siong chipped a ball in for him to chase. Igland tried to punch it away, but Han Kok's high boot got there a fraction earlier and lobbed the ball gracefully into the net.
Belgrade came very close through veteran Spanish striker Alberto Picazo, who could have done with an extra bit of pace as he was being chased down by a much faster Talib. Notwithstanding that, his strike from just outside the box still had plenty of venom in it, and had it been on target Bao-Tam might not have been able to scramble it aside.
The hosts' Johnatan Vanaken got into a little spat with the outspoken Han Kok that earned him a yellow card some minutes later, before canny Danish forward Kim Fuglsig read Bona's mind to level the game. Playing in his accustomed hole behind the taller Picazo, Fuglsig unexpected lunged at the German's lazy pass out of defence, and smashed it in on the fly before anybody could twitch.
The end-to-end stuff got the crowd heated up, with Bona failing to atone for his mistake in the 29th minute after he was put clean through by some exceptional vision from Simon in a crowded penalty area. He placed his shot too conservatively, though, to the extent that it was hard to decide if Igland had made a save or Bona had blasted the ball into him.
Malaysian winger Musa bin Mohd Derus, who had spent the early part of his career in Holland, displayed his technique when he received a difficult forty-metre pass smoothly on his thigh. He probably had more time than he thought, as the closest defender was nowhere near him, and in the end Musa banged it well clear of the crossbar.
The second half didn't reach such heights, as Grilled appeared content to play a waiting game after
Lee Jie Siong flew in from nowhere to half-volley a stinging drive from a tight angle. The Belgrade goalie got a palm to it, but didn't deflect it sufficiently to prevent it from nestling in the inside side netting.
Anders Igland followed that up with a stunning stop with his legs off
Dani Spirig to keep his side firmly in the hunt, but the rather high average age of Belgrade's players started to tell, and Grilled claimed the victory without too much trouble eventually.
