Cochrane Braved
Mirchev Marvel
Grilled's reserves pulled off an unexpected win against Danish visitors Clan Cochrane VC, largely due to a more respectable midfield lineup, despite Josefsson remaining clearly off-colour. The game marked the first appearance by a team from Denmark at The Cooking Pot for nearly twenty-six seasons, and just as with Livgardens bedste drenge then, Cochrane fell to the Birds.
The first blow was struck by
Edvaldo Mourão in the fourth minute, with Cochrane barely settled in. The Portuguese midfielder, who is well on his way to becoming a terrace favourite thanks to his earnest style, stayed on his feet admirably despite suffering several bumps, and somehow scooped the ball over young goalie Onur Can Olçun.
Grilled kept going, and Mirchev made it two in the 20th minute, with a crazy free-kick from all of thirty metres that didn't bounce as high as Olçun thought it should. The Cochrane goalkeeper's nerves began to get the better of him, and it could have been embarassing had his defenders not bailed him out in the 39th minute by blocking Safrinho off, as he waffled over coming out for a ball that was plainly his.
Clear chances were few in coming at both ends, and
Tian Yonghang's patience wore thin after Kresten Andersen shielded yet another pass out of play. The once-captain lunged in from the side in an effort to keep the ball in, but succeeded only in taking Andersen's legs out. The referee tut-tutted the youngster, and showed him the yellow card.
Cochrane's blue tide finally came in for the second half, as Grilled's forward line appeared confused after Lihai and Torsson came on for Simões and Safrinho. Josefsson's reduced mobility also had a lot to do with that. Teenaged Scottish wingback Jafar Ishtaq skipped beyond Woon Jin on the left, and his outstanding cross was turned in by lone striker Jabir Husseiny, no relation.
Darong showed his class by finishing off a solo effort cutting in from the right flank, but the visitors were able to keep things close as Russian central midfielder Kirill Makaryin flung himself at another pacy ball from Ishtaq to make it 3-2. They were unable to make further inroads, however, and it remained thus until the final whistle.
