Grilled Birds 1 - 1
mist 
All Square At mist
Dani Down
Grilled were well poised to get their season back on track after the timely recovery of Valdir, but fate struck them down again as
Dani Spirig injured himself before half-time. With
John MacKinnon still on the treatment table, Grilled's options were limited, and
Peter Fjällbratt was a workmanlike replacement who left much to be desired.
The Birds at least played their cards right, as they counted on mist being happy to take the game to them. While defence had always been a strong point of the visitors, their lack of height at the back was telling, and
Ciro Penati further cemented his claim to be Edmond's successor with an inch-perfect cross that
Han Lik-Tsun only had to nod his head to score from.
Long balls were the order of the day under the pouring rain, but while Han profited from the weather conditions, several other Grilled players were far less happy. Sid tried to blame his sloppy tackle on the mud, but the referee would have none of it and flashed him the yellow card. Rotteveel fared little better when he tried to trap a delightful long ball from Árva, as he ended up on his backside instead.
The rain claimed another victim as
Dani Spirig twisted his knee in the process of hooking in a good cross that the mist defence scrambled to clear just before Subri could power it in with his forehead. The Swiss midfielder was in obvious pain once the ball left his foot, and after a fruitless massage Fjällbratt had to be called in to replace him.
Fjällbratt had not even managed to set foot on the field when
Quah Han Kok sliced down Liao Chung-Hong as the veteran local midfielder threatened to spark a counterattack. To add insult to injury, the mercurial ZhangCai Yong tried Valdir with a long-range cannon from all of thirty-five metres, and Valdir could only watch as the ball skipped and skimmed past him despite having got his body in the way.
The unlikely equaliser gave the visitors new ideas, and they focused on taking shots from all positions in an attempt to replicate the goal. Li Keong Soon came very close through his great free-kick technique without any aid from the weather in the second half, but Valdir just about did enough to block it at the far post. ZhangCai Yong nearly did it again with a crazily bouncing attempt, but Valdir was wise to it this time, and kept his eyes fixed on the ball's movements.
Grilled were not silly enough to ignore the circumstances, and Rotteveel in particular pulled the trigger freely, having little confidence in his ability to dribble on the sticky surface. He almost hit the jackpot with a rising strike that Chilean goalie Alfonso Walton was unable to stop, only to see it come off the crossbar and fall tamely into Walton's hands.
