Old Champs Stopped
Rotteveel On Seven
Grilled Birds put a halt to the newly-established FC Tenochtitlán with a comprehensive six-goal victory, but the new old side gave a good account of themselves considering that this is their first full season. They do have promotion to Division Four to look forward to too, with a perfect nine points and 16 goals from their opening games.
Though Tenochtitlán's manager didn't get his dream matchup with Herron, his team reacted positively to their meeting with Grilled by putting out an adventurous 3-4-3 formation. It was a good decision as they had little to lose, but it also meant that they were unlikely to hold out against Grilled's front line for long. Indeed,
Lee Jie Siong burst through in the 12th minute to post a lob over South African trainee goalkeeper Ketumile Tatane.
The hosts' well-marshalled mix of journeymen and youngsters displayed great fortitude to keep Grilled at bay for the first half-hour, and Jie Siong's goal was in fact the exception as the ball spent a lot of time in midfield. Experienced defender Ong Ho Hao especially wasn't shy in reminding Grilled's players that he was on to them, which finally resulted in a booking for him when he got a boot to Han Kok's ankle.
Rotteveel extended his scoring run to seven games when Fjällbratt clipped a superb ball through the busy Tenochtitlán defence, which the free-shooting Dutch striker helped on into the bottom corner without hesitation. Subri was slightly selfish when he opted to go for it instead of handing Rotteveel a second goal on a plate in the 40th minute after he robbed Pui Yu of the ball, but that ended well. Rotteveel claimed another one within minutes regardless, with a stinging drive that Tatane simply had no answer to.
Four goals to the good, Grilled eased off marginally in the second half, with only Subri registering the fifth until the final ten minutes. After Spirig had won a free-kick right at the head of the penalty area, Sid took his usual run-up but stepped over the ball instead and left it for Rotteveel to wing it into the exposed left end of the goal. A wonderful combination, and one which Grilled would do well to practice more often.
Rotteveel didn't employ any deception with his second free-kick moments later, as Sid graciously stepped aside for his teammate to claim the day's honours. Tatane exhibited his potential with a twitch save after Rotteveel hammered the kick through the wall, though. Mohd Firdaus had no luck either, as he latched on a tired backpass from Ong Teck Wei in injury time but sliced his effort harmlessly wide.
