Gripping Gitariai
Pesky Paullin
Longstanding Grilled midfielder
Zhan Ju-Hau, on the bench as a substitute winger for the last game of his Grilled career, watched as heir apparent
Lorenz Paullin put two of his faces on show - one, the consummate observer who has the vision to pounce on the merest of chances in the unlikeliest of positions, and the other, the gormless shooter who cannot hit a barn wall from ten feet from the inside.
Joe Stern, as the point-man of an experimental 4-5-1 side, did poorly too and Lithuanian Division Three Gitariai's Paul Svoldgaard sealed the friendly with the only goal and got ejected after that.
A low turnout of about a thousand five hundred graced Grilled's first home friendly of the season, no thanks to continuous thunderstorms. Gitariai found width through captain Modestas Karalius on the right and his student Edmondas Birtonas on the left. The home-spun midfield was not nearly close to Grilled's expensive reserves though, and had recent buy Paul Svoldgaard not doing more than he should have, Gitariai would have been down.
Riviera benefitted offensively from Birtonas' long runs, and bent in a nice cross that Paullin dithered on only to drain it into Gitariai keeper Clemens Oelsnitz's torso. The Dane Svoldgaard was fiercely competitive despite the exhibition nature of the match, and his standing over a Grilled free kick proved one too much for the referee for had him in the book for poor sportsmanship.
Joe Stern left a fine spray in his wake as he glided for goal in the 27th, though fullback Afrikans Klenkins caught up and sent the ball away in a clash of bodies.
Stern was responsible for a beautiful dipping dead ball that Siu-Cheung threw himself onto, but the maturing defender missed the post by a fair margin. Paullin had one more chance six minutes before half-time when Rottman saw him unmarked in the hole behind Stern, but he screwed the shot across his body having made it all the way to the six-yard box with German goalie Oelsnitz immobile on the line.
Gitariai faded throughout the second half as the humidity seeped into them, but Svoldgaard displayed great heart as he hunted down a hopeful ball driven down the touchline by his skipper and danced around Siu-Cheung. Bao-Tam had one hand on the shot, but it noticeably slipped in the wet conditions and fell over the line even as he grabbed for it. Few would have put too much stock in the goal, as Grilled attacked the Gitariai half mercilessly. Gitariai's Tauras Reisonas hauled Riviera down while defending, and the game had to be stopped for some time as the Spanish winger received treatment for a cut.
Riviera was soon up and running and Paullin went back to his old ways, cushioning Riviera's hard cross only to wait on the shot and be crowded out by the Gitariai defence. Vexation came to the fore as Grilled's formation splintered as the players reconfigured themselves to aid in the assault, and it was just as well that wingback Gailenis Akstinas lost his footing badly on a fastbreak.
Paullin had a final shot at redemption when he cracked one at the bottom corner from over twenty metres, but Gilles Bastiaens slid a prodigious distance to ward it off, capping a wonderful performace. Svoldgaard was sent off nine minutes from time for a rash tackle, but ten men were sufficient for Gitariai to return home with a flourish.
