mist 0 - 1 Grilled Birds
Saviour Sid
Deadeye Man
Grilled collected three points that they could not really afford to lose against a determined mist, who are themselves in the clutches of relegation after an exciting Hattrick Masters adventure. They had to do it without Subri and Branbilla, who were both suspended, and indeed the more realistic of Grilled's supporters made it known that a goalless draw was all they expected on the club's forums.
The first good chance fell the visitors' way against all expectations, as mist bossed the game but were unable to unlock the Grilled defence decisively. Egged on by the supporters, they eventually threw a few men too many forward, and were caught napping when MacKinnon whizzed off in pursuit of a timely Árva clearance, after waiting in the center circle for just such an opportunity. Chan How Wen also gave chase, though, and though Chan never quite caught up, the pressure was enough to force MacKinnon into a rushed effort that rattled the crossbar.
mist then began really turning the screws on, and started to translate their dominance into actual chances. Árva, who had been very involved, prevented a likely goal when he made a seemingly flawless sliding tackle into ZhangCai Yong. To the surprise of even the home fans, the referee didn't see it that way and flashed the yellow card at a bemused Árva without hesitation.
The well-worked free kick routine fooled Grilled's backline, who mostly stood around and watched as Franz Schauer circled around the back to receive the through ball by Viotti. Lik-Tsun struggled to recover and got a hand to Schauer's back, whereupon the Austrian winger stumbled and Valdir pounced on the loose ball. It looked suspiciously like a professional foul, but again to everyone's amazement, the referee didn't bat an eyelid.
It wasn't going to be Schauer's day at all, as he had barely recovered from his disappointment at having his penalty turned down, when he got the ball played to his feet and immediately was sliced down by a zealous Sid. The referee got his first major correct decision of the game by booking Sid, but that was scant consolation for Schauer, who was in serious pain and had to be subbed by Ville-Mikko Rännare.
Following that, the pace of play slowed marginally, and opportunities were evenly distributed. Energetic English midfielder Enrique Obrajero was put through by a trick from Francisco Javier O'shee, but his muffled attempt was well held by Valdir. At the other end,
Quah Han Kok produced a similar chance for himself and struck the ball convincingly, only for Fricis Rimevics to bat it to safety.
The match continued in like fashion after the break, with a key difference - while Li Keong Soon missed his free-kick by inches, Sid made no mistake at all as he slammed it through the wall and into the far bottom corner, leaving Rännare stunned. Sid came close to a truly dumb sending-off after he instinctively made as if to strip off his jersey in celebration, but was fortunately tackled by Han Kok before that.
Tapesh Chowdhury should really have opened his league account as he was gifted a brilliant chance by fellow youngster
Ciro Penati, which he somehow contrived to send wide of the unguarded net. He almost made up for it with a breathtaking lob from all of fifty metres having spotted Rimevics getting careless and straying well off his line, and would have nailed perhaps the goal of the season had Blaise Kneib not been more alert than his keeper, and put his head in the way.
Grilled were left to sweat when the ever-dangerous Ted de Poel advanced menacingly on goal, with the Grilled defence backing off and inviting him to shoot, to the fury of Valdir. The Brazilian goalie had cause for concern as de Poel let loose a deadly shot that passed him in a blur, though luckily it went over and out.
