Vexed By Vile
Shu Sends Grilled Packing
Gaining home advantage for the seventh round of the Cup was sadly not enough for Grilled, who were outplayed at The Cooking Pot by a strong FC ~ vile team. This was the first meeting between the two sides despite their long histories, with the only contact the two had before this being Asher Stanton's sale to the Northern club some seasons past.
Despite having moving Stanton on, FC ~ vile still boasted of a solid midfield, which was more than Grilled could claim; Johann Reichel was an example of that, as he smartly found a gap in the box and forced an obstruction by Árva. Valdir managed to save the penalty by Wan Kuo-liang, who tried to put it down the middle, and courted a booking by taunting the unfortunate wingback.
The rabid support did lift Grilled up, and the Birds slowly began turning the game around. Subri got the ball in shooting positions several times, but each time attempted and failed to dribble his way through, greatly frustrating the fans.
By the 38th minute, chants of "Shoot, shoot!" were resounding around the stadium each time a Grilled player got the ball within thirty metres of the FC ~ vile goal, and finally
Zoltán Árva, perhaps irritated by the incessant prodding, did just that. He certainly appeared surprised when his daisycutter zipped past Ilmari Schultz.
With the vital first goal in the bag, Grilled commenced the next stage of their plan, which was to hold on to the lead. Many would have agreed that it was the right thing to do, given Grilled's luck in stopping the first penalty, but it only encouraged FC ~ vile's attack to enter full flow.
The first signs of danger began showing after Grilled's engine room failed to keep the ball all too often, and Han Kok was fortunate when Stefan Vonsild's apparently good sliding tackle on him was ascertained by the referee to be a foul.
Their blessings didn't last, sadly, and in the 75th minute the redoubtable Shu Lu Fang carromed a superb strike into the top left hand corner, a goal for which none of the Grilled players were at fault. Before they could even adjust to the new reality, Shu did it again, this time edging his way past Lik-Tsun to nick the ball past Valdir again.
In desperate need of a leader, Grilled turned to Han Kok, who tried but couldn't quite drag an exhausted side over the line. In the end, American left winger Samuel Corso profited from a slip-up from Branbilla, with Yuanlin providing the assist.
