Selected Point
Hosts Unshakeable
The four-all draw at aralcevol was manna for the fans, but unsatisfying for the Grilled visitors, who appeared good value for a win despite missing their captain,
Han Lik-Tsun. Credit has to be given to seluraralc for never giving up the ghost, as they clawed their way back from deficits not once, not twice but three times to earn their point.
Dani Spirig was left out of the midfield, as
Ciro Penati warmed to his role as starting winger as he made the right wing his. His contemporary
Sándor Deme was given a role in central defence alongside Árva, and while the Pole was not altogether convincing, he could hardly be blamed for his lack of defensive nous.
Grilled's man of the moment appears to be
Subri bin Ku Zainol, as the Malaysian was positively unguardable when he spun around the outside of local winger Poh Rong Meng, who like Deme is not a natural at his position. Subri's rifled shot was a rude welcome for the hosts' new goalie Mart Luns, but Valdir was in no position to strut his stuff either, after Swiss forward Sylvestre Siedhoff chipped him quite perfectly from outside the box.
With the preliminaries over, a litany of misses followed - Talib got his legs tangled up after being presented with a sitter from Branbilla's flick-on after a Sid corner, while Bilger made a much more respectable effort, poking the ball inches wide of Valdir's left post. Both counted for exactly nothing, though. Deme was clearly struggling in central defence, and got booked in addition, to his frustration.
Grilled's master Dutchman, who had hardly featured in the first half-hour, suddenly came to life in the 31st minute as he moved with a speed scarcely though possible to latch upon a slight mistake in ball control by the veteran Qiu Jiun-Nan. Qiu was in no position to recover, and neither was Brandão, as Rotteveel charged through for an easy score. seluraralc took two minutes to respond this time, instead of the one minute they needed after the first goal; Santamaria crossed, and Bilger leapt before Sid to squeeze his header in under Valdir.
It was then the Rotteveel show in the second half, after seluraralc tried an elaborate free-kick routine that had no fewer than three players run over the ball, but which came to nothing in the end. The Dutchman made it 3-2 with a deft lob that Luns hesitated and let slip through his palms, and then piled the pressure on the German signing with a quicksilver dribble that opened the home side's defence for Subri to apply the finish.
Secure in their cushion, Grilled sat back, and were eventually punished as defender Qiu Jiun-Nan was given free reign of the penalty area after a wonderful reverse pass from one of his strikers. The seluraralc manager, not one to watch the game slip away, then made a tactical change, ordering an attacking 3-4-3 and retired the visibly tiring Qiu in favor of the teenaged Jesús Puelles.
Jesús did not turn out to be their saviour, as Sevket Bilger claimed the role. The Turk blasted a superb dipper past Valdir to level things yet again, and there would be no winner as seluraralc were unaccustomed to their new formation, while Grilled could not get things going either.
