Wat A Game
Two For Tian
Grilled's visit to the Maldives produced a cracker of a match, as they outscored hosts Wathan Edhey Sports Club by five goals to two. The III.6 leaders had whitewashed DHISHISIHALU FC 10-0 over the weekend, and hoped to keep the good vibes going against the Birds, but didn't count on their attacking prowess.
Head coach
Han Lik-Tsun made a return to active football as he named himself at centreback, but retained Josefsson as team captain. Wathan played the same eleven who faced Kakogawa FC in their latest friendly, and from the looks of the first few touches, were under orders to entertain the 3000-strong crowd.
Their casual attitude would backfire in the eleventh minute, as two Wathan players ball-watched Safrinho as the young Grilled forward clambered between them. Although the home team had men back, none of them tracked
Edvaldo Mourão closely enough, and Grilled's Portugeuse midfielder squeezed in a first-time effort that skipped past Schuilenburg.
Next to score was defender
Björn Olsson, who had yet to open his Grilled account since his transfer. The Swede was of the school of traditional defending, and rarely ventured beyond the half-way line, but couldn't resist pushing up as the hosts fell back.
Erik Back encouraged him to press on with a give-and-go, and when Olsson made it well inside the penalty area he felt that he was entitled to have a go.
Wathan took the two-goal deficit in good stride, and continued to draw appreciation for attempting neat combinations, which were consistently broken up by the more serious Grilled defence. Safrinho and Josefsson had opportunities to put Grilled further ahead, but young Dutch goalie Joshua Schuilenburg was on alert.
He could do nothing with
Erik Back's perfectly-weighted through ball in the 50th minute, however, and
Tian Yonghang elegantly poked it wide of the oncoming goalkeeper before clipping it into an empty net. Mourão made it four when he grafted to head in a corner kick from Mohd Firdaus, and Grilled were home and dry.
The home fans, who were beginning to quieten down, would brighten up after key midfielder Ismail Shareef got the ball past Silvera in the 77th minute to pull one back.
Han Lik-Tsun, who failed to prevent contact, protested bitterly to referee Éric Rogue that Shareef had helped the ball on with his arm, but was waved away with a smile.
Tian would get his second in impressive manner as he scooted in from a wide position, and came close to completing his hat-trick; Wathan would get one too, again through a high ball as Throo Shauqee held his ground well, which concluded a pretty entertaining show for the fans.
