Owned By A Goal
Floris Heartbreaker
The Birds looked to be on their way against rising Division Four club OwnGoalers, who entered the sixth round of the Cup on an eight game winning streak in all competitions. Grilled's counterattacking tactics worked a charm in the first half, with Rotteveel more or less getting one hand on the Golden Boot for the Cup with a brace, but the home side were undaunted, and knocked Grilled out with a three-hit combination.
Ukranian fullback Olexandr Pushkutsa provided the first exciting moment, as he was fed the ball by one of the OwnGoalers frontmen, with Grilled's defence standing put. Valdir just about got his angles correct, since Pushkutsa slid the ball beyond his reach but also beyond the back post.
The home team were careful to limit Rotteveel's freedom, and had quite an easy time of it, up until the 29th minute when the Dutchman appeared to back into his marker and fall over, just inside the penalty area. It looked like an unremarkable incident to all involved expect the referee, who came running up with finger pointing to the spot. That understandably drew much protest from the furious spectators, but none from Rotteveel who blanked his mind admirably to convert.
If the lead was undeserved, nobody present could begrudge Rotteveel his second goal, which came just two minutes after the first. The hosts, who had controlled the game, were still shaken from going behind, and transfer-listed winger Anders Skals Jensen tripped Jianyong rather messily. The free-kick seemed rather too far for Rotteveel to have a go, but there was no doubt in his mind as he casually strode up, then hammered it with all his might. Luigi Fusco was still putting up his wall, and was far too late to stop a quite riveting goal.
The referee, already an unpopular figure around the ground, saw no reason for the kick to be retaken, and Grilled couldn't quite believe their luck as they held on to their 2-0 lead till half-time. OwnGoalers upped their tempo, and Jensen could have righted his wrongs with a headed goal, but couldn't get over the ball. Hilaire Richard was next to try with a creative backheel, hoping that Valdir would be caught unawares, but the Brazillian was not going to be taken in by the likes of that.
Despite their lead, Grilled were getting absolutely battered, and their conceding was just a matter of time. OwnGoalers finally got their reward after sixty-three minutes, as big central defender Raúl Huelves jumped strongly into a Bruschi cross. Valdir was prevented from reaching it by one of the hosts' strikers, and the referee made yet another dubious decision by ruling that no interference had taken place. Which was just as well, judging from the mood of some of the home fans.
It would have been curtains for the Birds had Valdir not been a more than decent shotstopper, as he parried countless attempts from a rampaging home team. Bruschi nearly got OwnGoalers back level with the pick of the lot, a stinging drive that ripped straight towards goal. Valdir had little time to react, but ended up warding it off brilliantly with a single strong palm.
Grilled might have sewn it up with Árva having the goalmouth gaping before him after a rare Grilled counterattack, but he somehow sent the ball into the crossbar. One thing led to another, and five minutes after Ricardo Esquivel beat Valdir with a glorious curler, Floris-Jan Stienstra denied Grilled even the lottery of extra-time with a composed finish after pulling the goalkeeper wide.
