Off The Right Foot
Feng Opens
Grilled got off to a winning start as they began life in the third division, though Footwork FC made it anything by easy; Having finished as runners-up in the two previous seasons, they could well be Grilled's main obstacle to promotion, and their hardiness bore that out.
Footwork were banking on a counter-attacking 4-3-3 in their quest for three points, but had to re-evaluate their plans after Darong found the back of the net on Grilled's first serious attack. Penati slipped free on the right, and Darong on the opposite wing met the ambitious cross with a firm header that French goalie Omar Zebir was late getting to.
The visitors surprised Grilled by racing forward from the kick-off, and
Zoltán Árva roughly hacked Ephraim van Raaij down, giving up a yellow card. That would be the end of the game for the Dutch fullback, and Jean-Patrick de Rassenfosse came in for him.
Maikel Rotteveel had a couple of good opportunities to extend the lead in the first half, but Zebir showed his class both times, coming to the rescue of Footwork FC with spectacular saves. The second, which saw him sprint the length of the goal, was so good that even Rotteveel ruefully applauded it.
Grilled did get their second goal in due time, as Subri nutmegged Zebir in a one-on-one, after good work by Penati down the right. This triggered a much more physical approach by the visitors, and
Feng Darong got barged to the ground by Vítor dos Anjos, who had the temerity to protest his innocence as he received his card.
Defender Edson Mostert was next into the referee's book as he tripped Rotteveel up in the 84th minute, and Lik-Tsun could have gotten Grilled home and dry from the free-kick, but scooped it over the bar. Footwork FC then passed up a chance to make the final minutes even more exciting, as Giancarlo Genchi found himself with plenty of time after Talib committed too early. Too much time, perhaps, as the Italian ended up blasting it way too high.
Mostert then got sent off for a crunching tackle on Árva that left the Hungarian unable to continue, and Valeriu Nică was lucky to escape a similar fate after kicking at Subri's shins. The Malaysian nearly scored despite that, but hit his shot into the woodwork.
