Daring Demolatorii
Randall Roars
Grilled may sit pretty on top of Division II.1, but their second team was taken apart by Romanian Division Four side Demolatorii Buzau in front of 7500 paying fans in the Old Lady Arena. Buzau's Welsh striker Robert Randall demolished Grilled single-handedly with three pieces of sharp finishing from which Hjortlind and company never recovered.
Hjortlind was tipped to vent his frustrations at having to sit out the once=in-a-lifetime thriller with FC GBR on the Buzau backline, and that was what he did as he picked up a neat pass from Siu-Yue and thundered it into the far post where it rebounded the right way into the net.
Asher Stanton, saddled with the responsibility of holding the midfield together, went back to his old ways as he could not keep his mind on the game, allowing Prídavek to slip through unchallenged. Pakpao snuffed out that threat by going in clinically on the centre forward, but Buzau played the ball back from the free kick to Randall, who astounded the crowd by playing Pakpao and Siu-Cheung for dummies and then cutting to the outside of Dewilde to equalise.
Dewilde was still trying to get the defence formed up when fellow Belgian defender Georges Ambroso snuck inside as a well-timed ball was played towards him. Ambroso shot narrowly wide but
Frank Öhmo's hurried goal kick was played back directly to the wily Randall who got the better of Pakpao with embarrasing ease, then waited for the ball to fall before volleying it over Öhmo, delighting the fans. Hjortlind attempted to turn the game as he so often does by turning a quality cross from
Ma Dai-Lin towards Dobre, but this time the Buzau goalie had no problem at all with the powerless effort.
Hjortlind was Grilled's most notable influence on the game, but the half-reserve side could not support him well. Siu-Yue and Kolesov were bright in stretches but wasteful in keeping possession, as their Swede counterparts kept a firm grip in midfield. Hjortlind picked up a yellow card early in the second half and had to moderate his game, which all but ended Grilled's hopes.
Grilled huddled back but Randall was having none of that and peeled the wavering backline open with a surprise turn of pace. Öhmo came out to meet him gamely enough, but it was the Welshman's day as he evaded the goalkeeper with a smooth shimmy to round off a hat-trick of individual brilliance. Demolatorii then switched to a patient waiting game, frustrating the Grilled midfield no end. Having players whom were unused to playing together didn't help matters as they engaged in personal battles to win the ball back, and
Zhan Ju-Hau received Grilled's second yellow for upending Focseneanu.
All the hustle did not help matters as Dumitru Ciubuc gave his team a fourth goal courtesy of a flowing combination play on the right flank which left Siu-Cheung ineffective.
Tim Hobson, who was hardly visible for much of the match, threatened to return to scoring ways with a pair of adequate shots, but Paul Dobre was up to the task and reinforced the general consensus that Hobson could not perform at this level.
