Starcrossed
Cruel Blows
A game that had started so promisingly for Grilled ended in an ignominy, as Grilled suffered yet another loss despite being good value for at least a point on a suitably gloomy day.
After an expected thrashing by runaway leaders Arrogancae, Grilled badly needed a pick-me-up, and got one with an interesting free-kick routine. Juan Cruz Melassi tripped up
Ciro Penati on the right, though at an angle such that specialist Sid would have some trouble converting directly.
The opponents were not about to discount the Polish sniper, but were totally surprised when he fed Rotteveel in the middle instead. The Dutchman was not the final target, though, as all he did was to attract another couple of defenders before squeezing a pass to the now completely free Subri, who then poked it past Arie Ottens.
Grilled rather enjoyed the next ten minutes or so as they passed the ball with verve, but lost their bearings after Vurnon Hassert felled Zoltan Árva in a heavy challenge that nearly led to a free-for-all. Hassert was rightly booked, but his team reaped the benefits as a distracted Lik-Tsun gave up a free-kick that Henrik Knudsen knocked right into the top corner.
Few chances from open play presented themselves, and Grilled's chances were to take a further hit. Subri appeared to have a legitimate case for a penalty when he was run to the ground by a Geostarz defender in the 53rd minute, and looked absolutely astonished when the referee showed him the yellow card instead of Wichmann.
The Malaysian forward must have completely disbelieved that incident, for he made a clear tug on an opponent just five minutes after that, and was shellshocked when he realised that he had already been booked. The home supporters yelled at the match officials to show some common sense, but that was in short supply.
Now with their attacking potential halved, Grilled continually hit a wall as they tried to take home all three points, and appeared resigned to sharing the spoils when disaster struck. There didn't appear to be much danger when Henrik Knudsen collected the ball in his own half, but a quick turn of pace saw him clear down the right; Han Kok caught up too late, as Knudsen released an early cross that big German forward Siegmar Sadlo handily headed past Valdir to break Grilled hearts.
There would be worse to come, as Mattias Branbilla was booked for catching Aguilar with a forearm when jostling for a high ball, which being his third for the season would see him also suspended for the clash with mist, which had taken on added importance in view of the Birds' latest defeat.
