Sportive Sally
Mirchev Makes It
A 9-2 defeat would be extremely distressing for most sides, but for the embattled Grilled reserve side, the two goals that they scored made it feel almost like an achievement. Mirchev's strike 31 minutes in was eight matches and 63 goals conceded in the making, and ended a world of hurt for the long-suffering team.
Grilled might in fact have ended their misery somewhat sooner against the Dutch Division Five outfit, as
Sándor Deme found time and space doubling up down the right flank. Jianyong nicked the ball forward as he was being fouled and the match official played the advantage, but journeyman goalie Brenninkmeyer used all his reach to claw the ball wide.
The Birds fared considerably worse on defence, and Polish frontman Lech Nawalaniec soon enjoyed a brace, from a combination of his own close control, and superb backup from Brieuc Maurin. Midfielder Gustaw Lepczynski added another one in between, as he rushed up to a wayward pass and rammed the ball straight past Bao-Tam from twenty metres out.
Grilled's moment then came, as recent academy product
Fan Chuancheng battled his way down the left by hugging the touchline. It appeared that his footwork would be all for naught as he got surrounded near the corner flag, until he managed to push the ball back through a gap. Hjortlind received the ball and picked out Mirchev on the other side of the penalty area, who seemed surprised as his first-time effort got drilled into the net.
The celebrations were quite unprecedented for a friendly game, as the goal boosted Grilled's morale, at least for the rest of the half. Gutsy defending all over the field threw the hosts off their passing game, and the Birds got to the half-way point without conceding any further. Liehner decided to throw
Zulkiflee bin Othman on at the break, withdrawing Darong.
That didn't improve matters much, nor was it expected to, and the Birds soon found themselves beaten back as the euphoria wore off. Péter Tivadar climbed highest to loop a header over Bao-Tam from a flat corner, and then tapped in on a one-on-one, with Brieuc Maurin's somewhat messy goal sandwiched in between. Grilled had a golden opportunity when Jianyong intercepted a very poor Robledales backpass, but didn't keep his nerve and lost the ball to Brenninkmeyer.
Grilled's reserves have let in some cheap goals during their less-than-impressive run, but Olav Schmitz's free-kick was not one of those. It was quite simply world class, and worthy of gracing any stage. Bao-Tam could only watch as the ball flashed off Schmitz's left foot, around the ball, and inside his far post.
An accident that saw Ruslan Lukovnikov suffer a cut to his brow forced the Israeli off, and was followed by Rodríguez's neat goal, and a series of body-checks by Pingzheng which was well worth a booking. Robledales then gave Grilled another chance with his second horrific pass of the day, and Firdaus made no mistake this time, making it 8-2.
There was still time for Ola Persson to get a ninth with a calm dribble that bypassed the ragged Grilled backline, before Schmitz put in a clumsy hack at Huihong's shins that saw him sent off as injury time loomed.
