Arrogancae Imperious
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It seemed to be more of the same for Grilled as they again failed to inspire any confidence whatsoever against strong opposition, capitulating by four clear goals to Arrogancae, who move three points clear at the top. If there was any silver lining to be taken, it was that the Birds were not exactly meek for most of the match, but the defence leaked like a sieve when it mattered.
Grilled captain
Han Lik-Tsun was missed tremendously in the heart of defence, where his position had been tried on - but far from filled - first by Deme, and today by Spirig. Árva, for all his other talents, was simply no organizer, and his lack of communication was obvious when he dashed forward to support the attack in the 13th minute, leaving a gaping hole between Spirig and Talib that Tinu Horni gleefully exploited to strike first.
A tirade from Valdir turned the air blue and ensured that Grilled's defence held firm for most of the half, and truth be told Grilled had their moments too. They might even have considered themselves slightly unfortunate to enter the interval without an equaliser, when fullback Cornelus van Schie shattered their cosy mood with an unstoppable piledriver that skimmed off a defender after Valdir was in mid-dive.
In a double blow, the referee waved for Talib to come to him as the Arrogancae players were celebrating, and gave the disbelieving Pakistani a yellow card for tripping Dorrepaal up after the latter had passed the ball for van Schie to hammer it. There was nearly a prompt reply from Grilled though as Árva struck a brilliant pass straight to Rotteveel, but the Dutchman's usually trusty turn-and-shoot routine was broken, and he embarassingly skewed it towards the corner flag.
The goal-kick was swiftly taken, and Penati thought he had cleared it successfully when the referee gave the free-kick to Arrogancae. The combustible Italian did not take that well, and meaningfully kicked the ball well out of the park, for an immediate caution. One thing led to another as Sid was forced to put the free-kick behind, and Roberto Valiardo just had to be in the right place to put an easy header away from the resulting corner for 3-0.
The game was crumbling before Grilled's eyes, and yet another lifeline slipped from their grasp after the formerly free-scoring Subri combined well with Penati, only to slide his final ball wide of the post. Dorrepaal got his side's first yellow for a rash tackle on Spirig, but the visitors got another free-kick after it was miscued by Valdir. The wall was duly formed, but Valiardo bypassed it by playing it wide to Walter Nidetzky, who blasted it just past the simmering Brazilian.
A number of Grilled fans were seen heading for the exit after this, and it might have been a wise choice, for they mercifully missed the sight of Einar Hansen slamming into Penati from the back and send the slight Italian reeling. From Penati's lack of invective it was clear to his teammates that he was really in pain, and
Sándor Deme had to come on as Penati hobbled off miserably.
Grilled at least did not give up the ghost as they tried to rescue a lost cause, though Subri went about it the wrong way with a hopeless lunge in on Kerimov that was lucky not to have done any lasting damage, and was fully deserving of a yellow at least. Nidetzky fired a close one for Arrogancae, and while Rotteveel and Branbilla both managed decent efforts after counterattacking play, neither manage to salvage something for the Birds.
