BaDon Done
Mirchev Wins It
Grilled barely avoided going a full season without a friendly victory, as they narrowly beat Vietnamese Division Two side FC BaDon United, admittedly with a nearly full-strength side. That was probably justified given that the match was part of a 45-match Vietnam-Singapore challenge, in which the latter prevailed 30-15.
Young wingers Jianyong, Darong and Chuancheng were just relieved not to be on the end of another thrashing, and played near their potential as the quality of the rest of the starting eleven lifted them. For once, they went on the offensive fearlessly, even as the summer thunderstorms made incisive dribbling that much more difficult.
The visitors were equally affected as lone target man Sarafimas Marjaicevas clearly struggled in the quagmire, giving Grilled's central defence the confidence to push up without concern. They were nearly undone by a surprise rush from Carlos María Poletti, after MacKinnon headed over from a good cross by Jianyong. The Scotsman gave the youngster a thumbs-up for his efforts, which had him grinning in delight.
The defensive setup by the visitors didn't make it easy for Grilled, but Subri eventually gave the Birds a welcome lead. The Malaysian striker took the ball on his thigh, then turned and caught the ball off-centre. That was still enough to cause it to spin out of Chilean keeper José Galarce's reach, and the freak goal was heartily celebrated by Jianyong in particular as it had come about from yet another of his crosses.
BaDon were not short of counterattacking intent, and Valdir had to be alert when Daniele Turatto came in from nowhere to threaten his goalmouth.
Nawaz Talib slid in magnificently to take the ball away for a corner, and appeared to have gone in fairly on Eriksson after the corner was taken. The referee decided that it was a foul, however, and Talib followed BaDon's Aloisius Linck into his black book.
Rain had always been a bane to Grilled's players, and just days after Spirig and Lik-Tsun were injured by the soggy pitch,
John MacKinnon followed them to the treatment room after a brave leaping header with one boot caught in the ground. Mirchev came in for him, and Grilled's midfield quickly missed MacKinnon's gruff bite.
The visitors slowly got into the game, and the dangerous-looking Poletti eventually got the goal that was coming. A below-par Eriksson had silently swopped flanks with local winger Lin Keng Yong, who obliged with a wonderful square ball between Grilled's defenders into Poletti's path. Grilled rummaged up a clever free-kick combination that was too swiftly closed down, and then Marjaicevas turned his day around with a mad dash that appeared to condemn Grilled to friendly defeat once more.
While the usual second team might have rolled over and died, Grilled's usual starters had much more mettle, and patiently awaited their chance as BaDon pulled back to protect their lead. Indeed, the equaliser would come, as
Quah Han Kok spotted Subri making a diagonal run in the seventieth minute. No-one was prepared to pick Subri up as the pass zoomed towards him, and Subri made them pay with a neat no-nonsense finish to tie the game up.
Grilled had a few opportunities to claim the win, but Galarce denied them as regular time raged to a close. They did not have to wait long for glory, though, as substitute
Ivaylo Mirchev got himself in the right place at the right time to shuffle home a rebound after Rotteveel's swerving strike was only blocked by the goalkeeper.
