Encountering A Void
Strange Selection
Quah Han Kok and
Feng Darong were left out of the Grilled side that faced The Void Deck in the first league derby between the teams, and the Birds found little purchase on the frontrunners, who must be in with a real shout at the title. Considering that they have even taken the Penguins down 4-1, Grilled cannot claim to have had a good shot at getting the points, but not scoring was still a stain on their record.
Rain again dampened the attendance, and thus the finances, at The Cooking Pot, but Grilled had it to thank for getting them through the first exchanges unscathed. Void's central defender Jano Mlcák had a few edge moments that nearly let Rotteveel in, while at the other end Mexican forward Matt Ford should really have scored on ten minutes, after a magical first touch took him around
Han Lik-Tsun. His first swing nicked the ball after it lay motionless in a puddle, luckily, and Han was able to force Ford into an off-balance second strike that was smothered by Valdir.
The visitors probably showed greater steel, especially on Grilled's weakened left flank where Seng-Huat and Mirchev made an ineffectual partnership. Benny Strandling took it to an unnecessary extent after one of his frequent tackles connected solidly with MacKinnon, however, and while the toughness of the Scotsman prevented any real harm from being done, it was still a clear bookable offence.
Grilled's left remained extremely inviting for The Void Deck to exploit, and finally not even Talib's non-stop running could stem the tide. Seng-Huat lost the ball to an opposition player after a relatively long spell of possession, and an early pass was hit in Eustachy Jaros' general direction. Grilled's defenders appeared to have it covered, but the ball swung over Talib's shoulder into the path of the young Pole, who calmly sidefooted it in to open his accounts.
That didn't bring any improvement, and Grilled were punished once more, this time with a struggling Mirchev left behind their winger. Iuliu Ciupitu was miles from his usual position when he thumped in the second goal, which was a testament to just how fluid the visitors were. Mirchev appeared to have an excuse for that at least, as he was quickly substituted for an apparent injury. Reserve goalie
Hang Bao-Tam as the new winger didn't bring much confidence to the Grilled team, however.
Bao-Tam was however unexpectedly tenacious in his new role, drawing a few cheers from the otherwise bored home support. The Void Deck managed a third through Gérard Bertin, before Rotteveel refused to pull out of a late challenge on Benny Strandling, seemingly more as revenge for the Swede's string of dubious fouls than anything. Rossano Faccioli entered for Strandling, but didn't impact much on the game.
