Brevno Busted
Sid Trick
Grilled got off to a roaring start in the 34th edition of the FdgfD Cup by brushing the champion of the 31st edition, Belarus' FC Brevno, aside 8-1. The Birds got off to a sticky start on their home ground with lax defending leading to them conceding the first goal, but replied eightfold to hold a commanding advantage in Group G.
In a difficult group which contained two past winners and with just three games to make a mark, Grilled knew that a win was more than a luxury if they hoped to qualify for the next round. To this end, Grilled had put out more or less their strongest eleven with the possible exception of Bona and Fjällbratt. FC Brevno frustrated Grilled's early assaults, though, and Siarhej Nassonau outran Fjällbratt on the right to cross for the speedy Pawel Skomra to nod in as Grilled's defence was caught ball-watching.
Fjällbratt had a less than memorable day as his touches went awry, but no one could fault him for not trying to advance Grilled's cause as he sacrificed both a sore stomach and a yellow card when he stepped in front of a quickly-taken free kick by Portuguese forward João Marçal when Bradman was out of position.
Fjällbratt's roll of misfortune continued when
Hidde van Liere foxed his way unhindered into the opposition box before picking the young Swede out with a smart backheel. Unfortunately, Fjällbratt failed to even trouble Vojtus' Drakahrust with his weak grounder which bounced harmlessly past the post.
It was left to Rotteveel to demonstrate the finer points of scoring when he stuck it into the top of the net in the 28th minute, with Sid giving Grilled the lead albeit with a less than classic free-kick. He appeared to have gotten his aim all wrong when his blasted strike came nowhere near clearing the defensive wall, but it still took a wicked deflection and despite having all the speed taken out, still beat Drakahrust as he was committed to diving the wrong way.
The game clearly remained up for grabs, and Ryszard Lesinski got that message into an unimpressed van Liere by taking him down to the ground with an extended foot. Jie Siong's goal then gave Grilled some breathing space, which they needed as Beckman's agility was all that kept Nassonau from cutting the lead down to one.
Sid then took over in the second half as a well-worked overlap had the visitors' defence at sixes and sevens, but the Polish defender exceeded expectations with a pinpoint screamer from a very tight angle. Sid would get his hat-trick in the 55th minute, this time requiring no external help as he dipped a free-kick in just below the crossbar.
Having secured the win, Grilled remained in the mood for goals nevertheless, with Han Kok in particular determined to run himself in the ground. This relentless approach did pay off, as
Dani Spirig wasn't picked up with Brevno's defenders otherwise occupied, and just had to keep his nerves to finish off the reverse pass from Subri for 6-1.
Strikers Rotteveel and Subri helped themselves to two more before the end, while Sid blemished his otherwise spotless evaluation card with a rash tackle on Marçal with eight minutes to go.
