Pride Redeemed
Dorrepaal Double
Grilled had little to regret as they were outplayed by a fired-up Arrogancae side at the 126 300-seater Melanie and Chong GOOD KICK Arena in Balestier, as their previously watertight defence was taken apart by a superb three-man attack. To their credit, the Birds displayed courage in coming from 3-0 down to 3-2, though it was a bridge too far in the end as Dorrepaal sunk their hopes with a fourth.
It was always going to be a four-man midfield with long-term injury victim
Lorenz Paullin not even watching from the sidelines, but with the attacking strength of Arrogancae counterattacking would be a risky proposition. In the end, Grilled decided to just try their normal game with Edmond shouldering most of the offensive responsibilities, and a turgid first half-hour confirmed that there would be no repeat of the 7-2 drubbing earlier in the season.
It swiftly began to look as if there would indeed be a slaughter, but the other way around, as Arrogancae struck thrice in six minutes. Dutch winger Cornelus van Schie sparked the spree when he exchanged positions with a fellow midfielder, leaving Grilled's central defence completely unprepared for his speed. Lik-Tsun was left flailing when Cornelus sidestepped past him and guided a short pass into Valdir's far corner.
The previously unflappable
Zoltán Árva had no answer to Dorrepaal's pure pace, as Grilled's flat back four suddenly appeared to be standing still in the face of the immensely mobile Arrogancae frontline. Valdir got a touch to Dorrepaal's wicked strike but couldn't deflect it sufficiently, and was again helpless when Rui Manuel Celeste juggled the ball past the last man to put in a sinking volley.
It could have been curtains as Dorrepaal again burnt Lik-Tsun in a straight dash, but this time the striker couldn't get his shot on target. Valdir was called into action again to save Grilled from a thunderous strike from Kike Sales from the left channel, and
Subri bin Ku Zainol reduced the lead to 3-1 with a measured lob just before the half-time whistle to give the Grilled fans some hope.
That hope was further reinforced thanks to
Dani Spirig, who tricked his way through the Arrogancae central defence to catch Nadzakov unawares with a stiff grounder. The lively Kike Sales suddenly pulling up with a groin strain was another plus for the Birds, as the Spanish midfielder had contributed much to Arrogancae's midfield dominance.
It was not to be, though, as the on-form Dorrepaal pulled his team ahead once more as he took a gamble on sticking his leg out at Árva inside the Grilled six-yard box. The Hungarian defender took a tumble, but the referee saw nothing wrong with Dorrepaal's cheeky tackle, and the Dutch striker easily swept the ball past Valdir while on the ground.
Now chasing two goals once more, Grilled retook the initiative but didn't manage a breakthrough. Their best attempt came when an outswinging Sid corner was headed low across the goalline by Subri, but Edmond slid in a fraction too late to get the ball in at the far post.
Dani Spirig tried especially hard to keep Grilled's dream alive, but only received a yellow card that will see him suspended for the league fixture against mist for his pains.
