Berries Squashed
Final Training
With an all-or-nothing clash against Rollin' Thunder looming, Grilled turned their friendly against Slovakian Division Three outfit Blues Berry into a warm-up for that match, fielding largely a first team. Just-recovered Branbilla was reintroduced in the midfield, but Subri was still not ready to take to the pitch, leading to Mohd Firdaus partnering Rotteveel in attack.
The hosts attempted a counter-attacking strategy, but it went to bits as early in the fourth minute, as
Quah Han Kok outmuscled young sweeper Denis Tatarciak and thumped in a crisp goal. They did however press Árva into a questionable tackle on ex U-20 striker tefan Jurovcík, as he jinked his way past two defenders to bear down on goal. That brought a yellow card for the Hungarian defender.
A spate of wasted chances followed, although Sid could have few complaints as veteran Spanish goalkeeper Sergio Baliña batted his curler out by dint of great agility. Erik Lupa had no excuses as he didn't even test Valdir with a soaring strike that rose well over the crossbar, while Mohd Firdaus was simply unlucky to strike the woodwork.
Grilled would score on their next free-kick, with Sid this time opting to lift it tantalisingly into mid-air instead. Lik-Tsun, who had come up just for this purpose, headed it across the goalmouth, allowing
Matthias Branbilla to celebrate his return to fitness with a simply taken goal.
Grilled continued dominating the game as they played with purpose, and Mohd Firdaus volleyed from a tight angle to put the game beyond the hosts. That appeared to be it for Grilled, as Han Kok and Penati proceeded to make a hash of sitters as the match wore on. The large crowd of over seven and a half thousand were at least entertained, as few were seen to leave before the end.
Just as well for them, as Grilled had three more goals in reserve. MacKinnon, who had recently been hammered for his poor form, did something to answer his critics as he beat Baliña convincingly with a solid drive. Quah was gifted a second for himself as a defender misread the bounce of the ball, allowing it to go over him, while Sid slammed a free-kick through the Blues' loose wall to make it six.
