Bass Notes
Talib Tiff
Grilled's three-match unbeaten run was stopped by the Woofers, with three goals by a revitalized frontline not enough to avoid defeat. The Birds' counterattacking gameplan was crippled by the sending off of
Nawaz Talib, but the individual abilities of their attackers earned them a two-goal cushion at half-time. Grilled's ten men could not hold out in the end, and a brace by Dimitar Tomov helped the hosts to a comeback.
Both sides were confident coming off huge wins the last weekend, but Grilled's fading midfield meant a concession of possession to the opponents before a ball was kicked, through their tactics - this must be an enduring worry for the Birds' fans. Despite his advancing years,
Quah Han Kok's acceleration cannot be faulted, even if his endurance wanes, as Dimitar Tomov found out to his chagrin. The 26 year-old Bulgarian was left swaying as Quah zoomed past in the second minute to feed Rotteveel, who slid it through Lluís Mardones at his near post.
That was a blip in a match that the hosts dominated, though they struggled to get shots on target. David Østmo had a particularly good opportunity as he carried the ball between Grilled's centrebacks, but couldn't keep it down. Grilled did most of their damage on the wings, though for once rising star
Ciro Penati was overshadowed by Han Kok. Tomov was getting played by the Grilled vice-captain, six years his senior, and ruled himself out for the next league game with a cynical tug to stop yet another penetrating run.
The home crowd's spirits were finally lifted as their consistent play finally yielded an equalizer. Talib thought he had been fouled when he was bumped off the ball by a beefy hip challenge from Limberg, but that was overlooked by the referee as Limberg proceeded to lay it off for Rondeau, who struck home prettily from twenty metres out.
That should have been the end of the matter, but Talib made it a point to jog towards Limberg right after the kick-off. Even as team-mate
Ciro Penati brought the ball up the right flank, Talib confronted the Swiss striker about his actions, but Limberg made it a point to ignore Talib. Seemingly increasingly provoked by being ignored, Talib got in front of his nemesis, shared a long stare with him, and pushed his forehead into Limberg's.
The crowd were clearly far more interested in that than Penati's dancing down the wings, and quite a few players noticed the act just as Limberg fell to the ground. Talib began walking off the pitch before the referee could pull out his red card, and walked into the tunnel as the home fans jeered.
The stands went silent quickly enough, as Grilled surprisingly regained the initiative. More good work by Penati led to a through ball for the ever-ready Rotteveel, who had the presence of mind to spot Subri making a parallel run. The Dutchman unselfishly drew Mardones before squaring it to Subri, who had the easiest of tap-ins to make.
As if that were not enough, Subri worked his way through a crowded defence just three minutes later to give Grilled a somewhat implausible two-goal lead. The remainder of the half belonged to the hosts as they kept the ball masterfully, but produced no serious attempt.
The complexion of the game changed in the second half, as the Woofers abandoned caution to the wind. Their fullbacks were now stationed almost as wingers to take full advantage of their numerical superiority, with defence entrusted to the central midfielders. The new tactics worked a charm, and Tomov blasted past Valdir after a sweeping move down the left.
Grilled became increasingly desperate as they had no answers to the hosts' use of width, as Talib's absence forced their own wingers to play from deep lest the defence be overrun. Quah and Penati were never the best of defenders, though, and their inexperience was soon shown up as Tomaz was left completely free to wander into the box and hammer another one into the net.
A draw would have been an accomplishment for Grilled as they frantically defended for their lives, but even that was not forthcoming as Lik-Tsun was turned by Østmo in the 78th minute. The Norwegian hadn't had the best of games, but there was absolutely nothing to fault about this grounder to the bottom corner, which was sheer perfection. Subri's passion was evident as he chased the ball down to the bitter end, but his only accomplishment was slamming into Geert-Jan Treur and injuring the Dutch defender with minutes to go.
