Dicht Sez Nicht
Romijn Hellraiser
Grilled Birds kicked off their Cup der Legenden participation with a 4-4 draw against German Division Four club VSV Hinten Dicht, and were probably lucky to get away with as much. Dicht's Welsh trickster Mervyn Nelson would be a half-level above anyone else, and once the Birds neglected to capitalize fully on their initial blitz, it was the Germans who pulled away.
And it was a fine blitz too. However one saw it, centreback Hans-Philipp Mändle promised a steady base on which Dicht could construct attacks - certainly a better one than Grilled could claim.
Vikram Mudaliar would settle for a corner in the eighth minute after getting forced to the outside yet again, and goalie Rico Ruthofer had it under control... until a hefty bump from a teammate caused him to drop the ball.
Chan Ze Han's reaction was automatic and flawless: 1-0.
The Birds asserted themselves yet more heavily after that rather fortunate opener, and with Ruthofer looking flustered, there was no shortage of attempts on his goal.
Gilbert Webb drove an imposing shot from the edge of the area in the 15th minute, that brought the best out of the Dicht keeper. It would be followed up with a fingertip save off
Cyril Künzler, but third time would be the charm for Grilled, as Chan knocked his second home after
Bernie Egan gave Willy Bogenschneider the slip.
There was a familiar sinking feeling for the VSV Hinten Dicht fans, given that they had lost their opening league games, but it wouldn't last. Grilled were getting too puffed up, and left far too much room for Nelson to operate, and he duly slicked the ball under
Massoud Dob in the 22nd minute, for 2-1. Dicht were back in control, and
Yuta Nakakita would again be found wanting just four minutes later, as he backed off Tom Dankert's lob - which dropped neatly under the bar.
Gilbert Webb would put the Birds back in front from the restart, and Grilled would finally get their minds to pressing.
Bilal Mohammad Harun was a titan here as he broke up a number of Dicht moves before they had the chance to develop, and Dob wouldn't have a save to make for the next half-hour or so. In fact,
Kalki Parvathaneni should probably have made it four after reaching Künzler's excellent cross in the 64th, but his header went nowhere.
Dicht head coach Pierre Oberhuber sensed the chance to make an impact, and put Laurent Papot on for Mändle, with a brief to bring the ball forward wherever he could. The armband went to Nelson, and he duly imposed himself, beating two men and feeding Dankert for another equalizer, 78 minutes in.
Grilled weren't coping well at all, and there were even some heated discussions between their own players, on who was responsible for tracking Dankert for that goal. Still,
Islom Davlatov would embark on a mazy run straight afterwards, but Ruthofer again saved well. Injury-time high drama followed, with Agilbert Weiguni seemingly having won it with his ridiculous unsighted volley, but
Florus Romijn salvaged it at the death from an all-in free-kick.
