Ignited Isle
Nawaz Nailed It
Grilled finally got the win they so badly craved in front of a half-empty The Cooking Pot, but it was an unnecessarily nerve-wracking affair as Grilled nearly let a four-goal lead slip. Flames were the prohibitive favourites considering that they had just beaten Grilled last Sunday, but Grilled were a changed team on home ground, and could not be held back until the final ten minutes.
Teetering dangerously on the edge of the drop, Grilled could no longer afford to play conservatively, and their newfound aggressiveness shook the visitors. It was some sight to see even Rotteveel helping out in defence, and the entire team's dynamic movement quickly showed results as Sid powered a grounder past Baaijens on the wet grass.
Flames could have equalised through Micha Marquart as they had done last week, but this time the German failed to set his sights right. Although Quah was hampered greatly by the waterlogged pitch, he was not short on industry, and nipped at Marc Arrott's heels until the defender lost the ball to Rotteveel, who slammed it hard and true.
Marquart again came close, with Omer Abbas Al-Rasheed drifting wide right to gain space for a pinpoint cross. Nobody could get close to the German and it appeared a certain goal as Marquart stopped the ball and fired unopposed, but Valdir's reactions were superhuman as he flung a big hand up to deflect it to safety.
Rotteveel was guilty of a glaring miss minutes after the restart, as Branbilla somehow managed to get the ball to him, despite being densely marked. The Dutch striker slipped and caught the ball on his shin, bobbing the ball well over the bar from just a few metres out.
That embarassment was soon forgotten as Grilled doubled their lead - Subri got the third with a toepoke in the 57th minute, then Branbilla saved his skill for himself as he kept his balance to maintain his run on goal after being tripped up by a last-ditch tackle. Baaijens was caught in two minds whether to rush out, and remained on his line only for Branbilla to easily tap it into a corner of the goal.
It seemed curtains for the visitors, as the home supporters imagined the match won with less than half an hour to go. No one was too worried when Hu Yiu Po's sudden acceleration left Lik-Tsun for dead in the 81st minute, and even the well-taken finish appeared little more than a nice consolation for Flames.
People began sitting up and taking notice when Hu repeated his feat against Árva right from the kick-off, though. Like Han, the Hungarian defender had no answer to Hu's unbelievable speed on the wet surface, as he appeared to glide over the grass. Han managed to close the breakaway down and even got a touch on his centering pass, but couldn't prevent it from reaching Marquart, who delicately sidefooted it past Valdir from close range.
Grilled's once-formidable lead was cut down to just one as Clifford Cocksedge beat Valdir from the edge of the box with a screamer, and the Grilled players unavoidably began to point fingers at each other. It would have been a very nervy final five minutes, had
Nawaz Talib not given them some breathing space by unexpectedly rampaging though a thinned-out Flames defence and knocking in a fifth.
Not a minute too soon at that, as Flames found it in them to replay instantly through Marquart, who felt that there was nothing to lose by trying a lob from twenty metres. Good skill met great luck as Valdir misjudged the flight of the ball in the pouring rain, and caught the ball only after it had crossed the line. Rotteveel intelligently wasted much of the one minute of extra time by holding the ball up at the opponents' corner flag, and Grilled held on for a very important three points.
