Dinamo Dynamic
Penati Wins It
Grilled accepted the invitation of Romanian Division Eight side FC Dinamo Andronache for an off-season friendly, and fans on either side would not have been disappointed with the breathtaking glut of goals that ensued. The hosts took the lead, but then were forced to chase the match right into added time, only to lose it minutes into extra time.
The Birds felt free to treat this as a testing platform for their fringe players, and not only gave
Feng Darong a rare start at wingback, but also drafted in a handful of their oldies such as Bao-Tam, Alcántara and Tuan-Mu. Grilled should have gotten an explosive start after Mohd Firdaus picked Penati out with a magical pass, but the Italian wasn't looking, and it was left to Dinamo's Alex Ibárrola to get the first goal with a hopeful shot.
The pace of Dinamo's three forwards took its toll on Grilled's aged central defence, and it was a mercy when captain
Luis Alcántara had to be taken off after having the wind knocked out of him by the frisky Risko Urbalu.
Weng Seng-Huat proved somewhat fitter, and
Dani Spirig celebrated his promotion to skipper with a goal seconds after Firdaus equalised.
The new captain was on fire, and continued leading by example after Deme's slowness in tracking back resulted in a levelling of scores by Goe Patrascu. The Swiss midfielder was unstoppable as he threaded his way past the opposition defence, and he was calmness personified as he took the ball past the keeper in the coup de grace.
That carried Grilled to half-time with the lead, and Grilled appeared to be cruising to a comfortable 2-5 victory courtesy of a brace by
Sándor Deme. The Polish lad, while questionable in defence, was quite outstanding in attacking the ball from corners, and nearly burst the net with a bullet header in the 68th minute. He was just as handy with his right foot five minutes on, as he gave the young Georgino Chefe no hope with a stiff strike into the top corner.
That was not the end of it for Dinamo, and while their thousand or so supporters cheered Cristian-Daniel Dumitru's poached goal in the 86th minute, only the bravest of them would have ventured that it was the start of a comeback. But come back they did, with Risko Urbalu's headed goal followed by wonderful technique by Mircea Dinulescu with what would have been the last kick of the game, had it not curled sweetly into the net.
If the Grilled players found that hard to swallow, they didn't show it as they obediently trotted off the pitch in preparation for extra time, as the crowd cheered their hearts out. Not that they didn't fight back in the closing minutes - Penati followed Dinulescu into the referee's book as they both put in late challenges.
It was
Ciro Penati who would redeem himself after a disappointing ninety minutes, as he was ably assisted by Deme down the right side in the fourth minute of extra time. Local defender Florica Dumitru was caught in two minds which of them to mark, and was eventually left in no man's land as Deme passed early for Penati to convert the golden goal.
