With Dutch Disease
Rodenburcht Paddling
Grilled would lose to two Dutch clubs in as many days, but current II.1 leaders De Rodenburcht admittedly had a pedigree that Schwalbe S.V. would struggle to match - eleven times Eredivisie titleholders, four times KNVB Beker winners, and Hattrick Masters world champions just five seasons past - few worldwide, indeed, could boast of such a record.
The Amsterdam legends have been known for their ability to incorporate new stars as needed, and indeed, all three of their major signings in the early season would start today in a 3-5-2, with Russian international Alexander Strakh moreover captaining the side in midfield. Theodolf Baake's masterstroke would be to deploy Jaroslav Habalčík towards preemptively hassling
Bilal Mohammad Harun from the back, which likely became the foundation of their convincing victory in today's Division Battle test.
As with Schwalbe, De Rodenburcht would not take long to enter into a running start, as they too went ahead in the second minute. This was, however, more an indication of the burgeoning individual talent they possessed, all over the pitch. Finnish right winger Jimmy Granfors was being covered by the book with
Heng Dong Chu and
Gilbert Webb watching him, but a swish of the hips and a sudden explosion of speed saw him through to sidefoot it past
Jānis Salmiņš.
Habalčík's instructions also became evident soon enough, and try as Bilal might to exert his usual influence, he could not due to the defender's tireless man-marking. The match certainly looked like revolving about Habalčík for a time, with him actually following his quarry into the Grilled box as Bilal made to help out in defence, only to wind up making it 2-0 on an opportunistic effort in the 16th minute. The flip side of it would be the toll it took on his stamina, and Habalčík would find himself simply not having the legs to prevent
Vikram Mudaliar's 30th minute rush, that had it down to 2-1.
That didn't slow De Rodenburcht's advance by much, however, and they would actually lengthen their lead up to three goals, just a few minutes on. They would see Dutch national squad prospect Jans den Bieman climb above
Bhavya Panigrahi to finish a Granfors cross from the right almost immediately, before strike partner Alexander Just swung in with Strakh having cut a swathe through right before.
The Birds might not be exceptional defending, but few clubs can claim to have them beat in possession - which De Rodenburcht however unambigiously had. Grilled would make no headway against their professional-acting opponents in the beginning of the second half, as De Rodenburcht were happy enough with a containment policy. Bakhtiar would make a double substitution of
Abd Hadi Taib Mazhud and
Kalki Parvathaneni for Kamel and Heng with half an hour to go, which did shake things back up a bit.
This was however perhaps not in a good way for Grilled, as their efforts to get an additional goal or two, only played into De Rodenburcht's hands. Kalki's busted run would see Habalčík knock a distance effort right back off the crossbar, and Just would gladly demonstrate his willingness to run at defenders, and had
Chu Xin Lee bounce off him ineffectually on his dribble for 5-1. The Birds were getting overwhelmed in the air too, from how nobody even got close to Strakh, as he bulldozed home a bullet header after launching himself from about the penalty spot.
Well, Grilled were not done either, as Kalki reiterated his importance to the team as an attacking outlet, as he did his usual coming-in-from-wide-left strike. This would be cancelled by Cambodian international playmaker Sov You at the next opportunity, though, as De Rodenburcht kept their vise-like grip on the result. Granfors would receive the only booking of the game in service of that end, as he constantly bugged the active Abd Hadi.
It would become eight for the Dutch side from a tricky free-kick routine that ended up with Jans den Bieman, but there would be a third too for the Birds in injury time off
Chu Xin Lee's right boot, right after Mudaliar had been withdrawn for
Prokop Mottl. Den Bieman might have answered that too, but his cracking lob would drop onto the roof of the goal netting instead.
