Apache Scalping
Attanasio Massive
Grilled didn't taste victory in their visit to a Portugal mourning their 0-1 defeat to Spain in the World Cup, with Division Five club CF Apache managing to put five past the Birds despite starting with only nine men.
Grilled's reserves didn't protest too much as that merely evened the odds somewhat, given their weakness in midfield. The handicap turned out to be insufficient, unfortunately, as the Apache midfield four overwhelmed Grilled's three. Pietro Cicuta did a great job of drifting wide left at the correct moments, and came in to breach the Grilled defence in the 20th minute.
There were more flashes of inspiration, this time from Belgian lone striker Julien Caron, who out-thought
Lim Shun Jin completely and forced the Grilled midfielder to wrestle him to the ground. Caron took the free-kick himself and knocked it right to Bao-Tam, but the most the veteran goalie could do was to fist it into the air, where Massimo Attanasio was first to react.
Defender Jérôme Michelin was next to get a shot on target, but Bao-Tam was on call that time. Cicuta then rocked the woodwork following another swoop in from the left, before Caron got his goal, and the third for the Apaches, with a classy flick after Cicuta once again lost his marker.
Bao-Tam pulled off a string of admirable saves early in the second half, while Attanasio was fortunate to stay on the field after a messy tackle on Mohd Firdaus despite already being on a yellow. The Swiss' instant apology probably persuaded the referee to let him off, which he celebrated with a rapid run down the right side to make it 4-0.
Frenchman Max Drieux angled in the fifth and last goal as the Apaches began to lose some steam, but they remained dangerous on the counter, with José Monreal coming very close in the final minutes.
