Caught In Avalanche
Hooijdonck Hattrick
Grand plans for a season don't go up in smoke after merely one game, but Grilled's came close to doing so as they suffered a 1-4 home defeat to newly-promoted Snowman Athletic. The absence of
John MacKinnon through injury coupled with the sale of Spirig left Grilled woefully shorthanded in midfield, and the visitors took full advantage as Sytse van Hooijdonck claimed three of the best.
Captain
Han Lik-Tsun was not available either, and Liehner took the bold step of handing
Hu Huihong and
Zulkiflee bin Othman their league debuts at fullback.
Feng Darong paired with mainstay
Ciro Penati on the wings, giving Grilled a very offensive look down the flanks. Unfortunately, the lack of experience in these areas was to cost them dear.
The signs were showing as Huihong and Zulkiflee were willing defenders, but their positioning was almost laughably naive. One example was was Huihong got pulled aside by Wiacek, who offered little threat, allowing van Hooijdonck to pass him unobstructed. Árva sensed the danger and threw himself into the striker's path, doing just enough to make him overhit his lob marginally.
It was undeniable that Athletic looked the more threatening side, other than a few rare forays by Penati. Even so, eyes must be fixed on Grilled's defence for the shambles that led to their first goal. The senior defenders were caught ball-watching as Han Kok hit a backpass between them, allowing the enterprising van Hooijdonck to hustle his way onto it and swing it past an uncertain Valdir.
That broke Grilled's confidence, and a hesitant clearance by Zulkiflee gifted van Hooijdonck a second, almost right away. Caught in two minds whether to shepherd the ball out for a goal kick, or to clear his lines, the wingback allowed Jérémy Ollagnier to pick him off with a hard but legal nudge. van Hooijdonck was in the box in a flash, and took out Valdir with a shoulder drop before calmly depositing it into the net.
The fans, who had been silenced for the last couple of minutes, could not help but murmur boos as Huihong contributed to a third before half-time. There had been ample warning when Branbilla bailed him out with a saving tackle to concede a corner, but the youngster drifted uselessly wide and left Athletic's other forward Tautgirdas Chazanas wide open for a free shot, which was duly converted.
Three-nil down at half-time was not the script that Grilled would have written, and Liehner must have felt the urge to substitute his underperforming youngsters. To his credit, he stuck with his decision, and was rewarded with a much more professional showing from them.
It was hardly enough as the Lithuanian Tautgirdas Chazanas was in top form, and it was all Huihong could do to keep up with his antics. He could hardly be faulted for being fooled by a flick over his head from Chazanas in the 67th minute leading to van Hooijdonck bagging his hat-trick, though - much better defenders could have done nothing against that.
Athletic clearly deserved the win, if for their work rate alone, with Liu Shi Yeow a fine example of that. He sprinted to a challenge that most midfielders would have ignored, and nearly nicked it off Han Kok, if not for the latter's quick change of balance that brought him an unlucky yellow card instead.
A comeback was quite out of the question, but Grilled had one good attack left in them. As has often been the case when nothing else seems to work, Grilled gave the ball to Penati and let him run with it. A good choice, as the Italian created havoc down the right before drilling an angled ball into the box that a defender shoved Rotteveel away from. That was a certain penalty, which was well hit by the Dutchman to save some pride.
