Robbed
Sammy Slayer
Winning Eleven undid Grilled Birds by the odd goal, adding more drama to the series between the longtime adversaries. Aged winger Sammy Ketteringham lofted a penalty in to condemn Grilled's eleven match unbeaten streak to the garbage heap and place themsleves in pole position for the S-League championship.
The marvelous Winning team were perceived to be vulnerable after suffering a 3-4 loss to Hattrick all the time and wheezing to a 2-0 Cup win over Division Four Rollin' Thunder. Martinsson knew only one direction as he pandered to the crowd, ekeing out a foot from Australian fullback Clyde Allen to test Tom Pinchetti with a good drive. Rottman, being blooded into the first team, contributed with a crossfield stab that Langeland gamely dragged back for Martinsson, who was vaugely surprised and twisted the ball into the stands.
Winning regained their composture and employed the three in midfield, Nederwald and Silverling steering the match their way. Langeland's deplorable disciplinary record worsened with a mean-spirited push on Silverling after the two had tangled. Grilled's goalkeeper
Clair Harlow then single-handedly kept Winning Eleven at bay, punching out former Greek international Nikos Avramidis's strike headed for the top corner, and then getting his body behing his partner Hans Hjorting's formidable blast and lunging at the return from Klintskog that flitted a thumbnail wide to the left.
The most controversial incident of Grilled's season happened seven minutes after the restart, innocously enough as Hjorting held the ball with his back to goal. Hjorting then attempted a spin move that Bona saw through. The Swedish striker lost his footing, and Bona was mortified to see referee Sébastien Toulouse run up and point to the spot. Ketteringham stepped up and chose high in the middle, as Harlow dived low to his right.
Ketteringham skimmed the bar with his free-kick next, as Grilled battled to regain equality. Rottman started to look out of his depth, requiring Siu-Yue to salvage the situation with a crude slide in on Nederwald late in the game. Avramidis never stopped trying to add to his haul, raking one into the outside of the netting with his instep.
With the game winding to a finish,
Au-Yong Siu-Yue was left to handle Ketteringham when the 35 year-old set off down the left, and didn't hold anything back with a stiff jump into the startled veteran. Siu-Yue deservedly received his marching orders, but some were wondering if a form of justice had been served as Ketteringham was carried off.
