Rölanda Roast
Rodkvist Decking
The ליגת האטריק opener had Swedish Id competitors Rölanda BK tame the Birds 5-3, and even the most biased Grilled fan would have to begrudgingly admit that it was a fair representation of the proceedings. The Birds were not bad, far from it, but Rölanda had a midfield comprised of past, present and future Swedish internationals, to which Grilled's own pretty-decent collection paled in comparison.
Matthias Kvarnhall and Calle Gillstedt are in Sweden's current official squad, with Sulaka, Lewsten and team captain Nilsson all having earned caps too.
Abd Hadi Taib Mazhud had spoken much of being up for the challenge in the build-up to the game, but the reality of the situation would soon set in for him and the rest of Grilled's central three - they would often be just that little bit slower to the ball, just that slightly less robust on it, which must be a taste of how other teams had often felt against themselves before.
Still, it should be said that the Birds had a fair shout for a penalty as early as the fourth minute, when
Vikram Mudaliar's breakaway run was halted only by Kvarnhall's lunge from behind, at the very edge of the penalty area. Rölanda's players felt that he had gotten the ball, Grilled's that it was a clear red, and the referee eventually split the difference by awarding a free-kick just outside.
Teo Chuan Yong took it, and impressively got it off the crossbar despite the less-than-ideal distance.
It would be mostly Rölanda after that scare, with
Bilal Mohammad Harun shouldering much of the burden for the Birds. They appeared to have it under control when Melvin Rodkvist received it with
Kalki Parvathaneni on his back in the 14th minute... only for the forward to bounce Kalki off, and work his way deep into the box with some excellent close control at speed.
Sølve Lunde would recover quickly enough, but the slight delay was all Rodkvist needed, to slot it low across
Jānis Salmiņš for the opening goal.
Grilled did acclimatize over the course of the half, to their credit, and they would even shade the opponents in the possession stats eventually, thanks to Douglas and Lunde assertively pushing upfield whenever possible. If Rölanda had a weakness, it would have to be in their central defence, where they were relying on central mids to fall back promptly. This was not possible in the 37th minute with the Birds having advanced their forwards into dangerous positions, and
Kalki Parvathaneni would blast it past former Austrian international Alfred Hiebler, as he confronted the rare opening.
This return to level terms would last but four minutes, sadly, as Grilled's raised confidence worked to their detriment.
Chu Xin Lee would try to bring Douglas into play on the overlap on the right flank, only for his intentions to be read by Kjell Arne Yngvesson. It would be Nestor Lewsten to get the free run instead, and although Teo did his best in trying to chase the winger down, it wasn't enough to prevent the glorious solo finish.
Teo would not get the opportunity to make up for it either, as he would be replaced by
Salah Kamel for the second half, as
Hilal Bakhtiar cranked up the offensive dial. It did work for a bit, evidently, as Grilled's fired-up attack went into overdrive from kick-off. Rölanda appeared shaken for once, and the pressure paid off within three minutes as
Chan Ze Han expertly directed Chu's abbreviated cross, down towards the turf and beyond Hiebler's belated trailing leg.
Chan was, indeed, one of the few Grilled players who more than held his own against Rölanda's array of stars throughout, and he would be responsible for keeping the opponents wary for much of the second half; there would quite often be a man or two hanging around him just in case, which definitely made his teammates' job on defence easier than it might otherwise have been.
There would be a prolonged stalemate stretching to about the 80th minute, as
Gilbert Webb's inclusion for Lunde further boosted the Birds' urgency in compressing the field as much as they could. This perhaps finally backfired with eight minutes to go, as Grilled were hustled off the ball after an extended series of aimless passes. Karl-Oskar Gerden advanced with it with Douglas barely hanging onto his shoulder, but this was for naught as Gerden released the ball for Nilsson to tap it in at the right moment, smooth as clockwork.
Mattias Cederlind was next with an exuberant volley whistling close, as Rölanda threw off their shackles. The Birds were forced to follow, being behind with not much time left, and it didn't go well for them. Rölanda's technical superiority served them well as the game became far more expansive, and Rodkvist's near-supernatural control would again make all the difference, as he set himself up to power it past Salmiņš once again, in the 88th minute.
That was it, even before Gillstedt upped their margin to three goals, as he surged through a by-now ragged Grilled central defence on Rölanda's next possession, with the Birds having gone for broke from kick-off.
Chan Ze Han did somehow pull another back, for which he weaved past three defenders before catching Hiebler off-balance with a last-second reversal, but it was an afterthought by then.
