Snowed Out
Wide Game
SnowMan Team held Grilled to a credible draw as they kept things very tight at the back with a five-man defensive line. To combat that, the Birds tried Quah as a withdrawn forward and instructed him to spread the ball wide as open as possible, but the numbers were against Rotteveel and Bögengang.
The first real action of the game came in the twelfth minute on a breakaway, and most expected Quah to give it to either Penati or Darong, a rare decision as Grilled seldom play with two wingers. Inexplicably, Quah chose to go it himself, and took the breath away with an audacious clip past Lluís Rosa, but the Andorran ex-international was seven years younger and two steps faster, and regained ground all too easily.
It was Grilled's turn to defend a couple of minutes later, with Danish winger Nicolai Nedergaard picking a good time to lay a tempting ball to the head of Foo Ping Chao. Valdir managed to punch it off the midfielder's head, but there were anxious moments to follow as the ball bobbled dangerously just metres from the empty goal, before Behr booted it clear out of the stadium.
Darong mixed in long periods of ordinariness with flashes of inspiration, but even those were not enough as the handful of crosses he put in were effortlessly dealt with by SnowMan's defenders. Grilled's didn't have too hard a job either, until a terrible misunderstanding between Behr and Talib allowed Wu Liang Wee through to make it one-nil.
This was cause for concern as Grilled didn't look like having many clear chances in them, and Montenegro fullback
Vukota Crkvenjakov drew sighs of relief by making his count. Quah grew into his new role as the game progressed, and sighted Crkvenjakov ghosting in as his forwards ran helter-skelter. Crkvenjakov killed the ball comfortably, then composed himself and passed it beyond Ragnar Niidumaa's reach.
Vukota would have his downside as well, as shown when Riko Kuther sped past him to put SnowMan ahead again in the 48th minute. Indeed, the weathered Grilled backline looked nervous whenever they were faced with pace, a weakness which would undoubtedly not go unnoticed by rival sides.
Fortunately, SnowMan's lynchpin Lluís Rosa began to wilt in the heat, not helped by numerous lung-bursting runs out of defence, and he was found out by Penati near the hour mark. The Italian dodged another tackle by Iturbide before swinging in a low one, which Darong met on the fly for his first goal since the opener against Holy Satans.
Lik-Tsun had Torsson and Simões warming up on the sidelines, but with the game in the balance, didn't dare to commit the inexperienced youngsters. It was a wise precaution as Grilled barely survived a late SnowMan onslaught, and Nedergaard might even have won it outright, only to spray his effort onto the crossbar.
