Dead Bottom
Sng Sinker
Grilled's options are now limited after getting shafted by seluraralc in their must-win penultimate match, as they now need at least a point against Rollin' Thunder to have a chance at avoiding relegation, though more realistically victory would be required.
Sadly, Grilled were not in the best of shape entering the game, with Subri and Branbilla both out. The Birds therefore had to ruch
John MacKinnon back despite his lack of match fitness, and took a chance with both Penati and Chowdhury down the wings in support of Rotteveel, who had never enjoyed the lone striker role. It was nearly enough, but not quite.
seluraralc took the initiative on their home ground, and the difference soon began to tell on the flanks as Grilled's young wingers' positioning left much to be desired. French winger Lino Chaussepied was covered decently by Sid, but without Chowdhury to apply additional pressure, Chaussepied easily picked out his opposite number Gerd Bouvier with a bombing pass. The German outleaped Talib in the air, but couldn't get any power behind his header and didn't trouble Valdir.
Grilled's first serious attack was well struck by Rotteveel, but handled effortlessly by seluraralc's Argentinean goalkeeper, Luciano Martín Sarmiento. The game was turning out to be a great advertisement by both goalies, as Valdir got the better of Sevket Bilger in a one-on-one, and Chaussepied, not to be outdone did the same to
Zoltán Árva.
The home side maintained the upper hand, and only the continued brilliance of Valdir and captain
Han Lik-Tsun kept them at bay. The breakthrough would belong to the Birds, however - moments after Bilger had his head in his hands for missing a simple chance,
Dani Spirig was first to react after Sid opportunistically sprayed the ball down the middle, and managed to get the ball past Sarmiento from close range.
With safety in their sights, and in any case an inferior midfield, with MacKinnon genuinely struggling with the pace, Grilled opted to batten down the hatches in the second half. They seemed to be justified as they kept seluraralc down for the opening fifteen minutes, other than a dodgy tackle by Sid on Sng Wan Rong in the 53rd minute. Television replays showed that Sid did indeed have a hand on Sng, but contact was minimal and the referee was probably right to ignore Sng's appeals.
Sng would have his moment, however. The stage was set for him by a sweet header from Bilger, who made up for his repeated misses with a very well placed effort straight ahead of himself, just between Valdir's outstretched hand and the left post. A draw might still have been acceptable for Grilled, as it would have left seluraralc two points behind, but Sng, who had scored against Grilled earlier in the season, dashed those hopes with a mighty raking shot from just inside the box in the 70th minute.
