Ravens Rustled
Chitre In The Mix
Tian Yonghang was not afraid to let his developing squad gain more real-match experience, and had enrolled them in the Islanders Grand Tour tournament, for just this purpose. The opening Group A game would be against Icelandic IV.33 leaders Nordstar Ravens F.C., under the same management group as Canadian club Maniacal Heathens. It would end with teenaged trainee
Gandhik Chitre coming of age some, as he flirted with a hat-trick.
The first shot would however be fired by someone at the other end of the age spectrum, as 39 year-old Scots central defender
Gilbert Webb gave a glimpse of the power in his right boot, that had helped him to forty goals for the Birds thus far. While his stamina has quite pointedly declined over the years, Webb's raw strength had not diminished much if at all, as evidenced by his walloping it towards the Ravenator goal on a whim, from the edge of their penalty area. Young French goalie Jean-Mathieu Drouillard barely registered the ball as it flashed past him, from his lack of reaction.
That happened with barely two minutes on the clock, and suggested a torrid ninety ahead for the Ravens, who were marshalled by Chilean midfield veteran Luciano Vilugrón for the day. Ravens head coach Ingvar Barkarson relying on more-experienced staff would mean that Grilled's issues with not lasting the full match were less of a problem than usual, although this also meant that forwards Gustavo Adolfo Lorenzini and Árni Egilsson knew their way around pretty well too.
It would be the Birds to push the pace still, with
Chan Ze Han trying to spring a surprise toepoke in the fifth minute with Roby Lucarelli hassling him, but Drouillard reacted well then. The Ravens' first big move would see Egilsson setting Sveinsson up, but the Icelandic winger would spray it wide - as did
Bhavya Panigrahi, in the 23rd minute. The ensuing goal-kick was short, however, and from the resulting indirect free-kick as the Ravens tried fruitlessly to clear,
Gandhik Chitre shoved it in for 2-0.
Ravenator would finally come together after Chitre's strike, and replied from the kick-off, as they shifted play from right to left via a magnificent cross-field pass by Ágúst Loftsson. Sveinsson would not let the fleeting advantage go begging, as he immediately swung a cross into the box as the Ravens' frontline rushed it, and it would be skipper Luciano Vilugrón who got the vital header to cut Grilled's lead.
Lim An Keng and
Prokop Mottl would take over from Kalki and Velho for the second half, and it would once more take but two minutes for Grilled to score. It would again be Chitre to get it done, as he attempted to dribble inside after receiving
Aw Keng Chuan's accurate twenty-yard pass. The Ravens' defence clearly respected
Chan Ze Han too much here, as they kept two on him while allowing Chitre to advance unimpeded - and they would pay the price for this disrespect.
The Birds were definitely getting plenty of open looks around the opposition area, what with Bilal and Lim not shy to bring the ball up by themselves, and the next big chance would be
Paulino Trindade's rocket swinging in from the left, which shook the crossbar. There would then be a breathless end-to-end exchange around the hour mark, with Loftsson's excellent cross only just kept from Egilsson, by
Gilbert Webb's timely charge. Anywhere would do for
Bhavya Panigrahi, but his hasty hack upfield would fall kindly for
Chan Ze Han, whose effort was however not up to his usual standards.
Enrique Baena's habit of getting booked would continue, as he didn't manage to disguise his clattering Margeir Sveinsson sufficiently to the referee's liking. Trindad would then take over for some minutes, but his muscular play on the left would repeatedly fail to find an outlet. Chitre looked crestfallen as Tian ended his hat-trick hopes by withdrawing him for
Teo Chuan Yong to get some minutes with ten to go, and
Dimitris Germanakos would have to be alert to prevent Dániel Tasziló from sneaking a second for the Ravens in injury time - which he was.