Cyber Clampdown
Spirig Sparkles
Superteen
Dani Spirig impressed against relegated Philippine League side cyber_java, notching a hat-trick in his second match for Grilled. Kek-Tjiang marked his satisfactory rehabilitation with a goal from a left wing berth, and will be raring to start against GeostarZ at the weekend.
A small but passionate lot sat in at cyber_java's stadium in Cebu, and the game had barely begun when
Au-Yong Siu-Yue nonchalently waltzed past Benedict Valderrama on the right flank from the kickoff. cyber_java did not deign to respond, and Siu-Yue's looping cross was neatly tucked in by
Dani Spirig at the far post. It was then realised that cyber_java had fielded only ten men, but in the absence of any explanation Grilled went about their business as normal. In the ninth minute Valderrama blundered again as he opted to dribble out of defence, only to find the ready leg of
Joe Stern waiting. A deft clip and Grilled were two goals ahead.
Painfully thin in midfield, cyber_java were hanging on through the leadership of 30 year-old club icon Jorge López. The captain-coach patrolled his defensive half single-mindedly, but Hjortlind and Stern pinned his back two down most of the time.
Dani Spirig cut in from between the forwards and earned his second goal with a right-footer. Kek-Tjiang and Hjortlind contributed to leave the score at five to nothing after forty-five minutes.
cyber_java made a better show of it in the second half, with former Philippines Under-20 winger Brian Publico giving
Kau Siu-Cheung a run for his money. Grilled's own right side hummed with intensity too, with Kolesov making multiple overlapping runs, cooperating with Riviera in from of him. On one of these surges, Kolesov pumped the ball into the path of Hjortlind, who needed no invitation to feed his scoring habit.
cyber_java's best chance came from their tall Danish striker Peter Bros Yding, who was odds-on to salvage a consolation effort when
Lan Tuan-Mu stopped him mercilessly in the six-yard box. The referee waved play on, then carded Yding when he protested. Siu-Yue's class told as he bypassed the whole opposition midfield with a raking pass, the sort that the speedy
Joe Stern loves to chase. Chase he did, and Stern did the job with a low, bouncing shot that evaded Jasper van Wessem in goal.
Spirig's search for his first ever hat-trick came to an end seven minutes from time, as he shoved his way through several opposition players before lifting it over van Wessem. With the seconds ticking away, prolific winger Javier Zurita lashed out at Riviera in frustration, for which he was booked.
