A Magic Return
Weingessl Works It
Grilled came away from the second leg of their friendly series with German Division Eight side Munich Magics with the same four-goal winning margin, with the usual suspects from last week's meeting picking up where they left off.
The Magics kept ten of the eleven players who faced Grilled last week, while changing from their red home hoops to blue away ones, and fared little better against Grilled's near-full strength midfield. After a spell of sustained pressure, Penati suddenly switched play to the opposite flank, where
Tian Yonghang trapped the pass and cracked it past the goalie with great aplomb.
Quah Han Kok then missed a golden opportunity when the 19 year-old Dennis Rissling rather optimistically tried to dribble his way out of the box, and got dispossessed by the former U-20 and national midfielder, who shot wide.
Ciro Penati would make no such mistake when his turn came, and nonchalently took the ball around a creaky Egidius Sanders before depositing it into the net.
Marksman
Chow Ying Lee then returned to his best with a laser-guided strike into the bottom corner, whereupon the Magics decided the throw caution to the wind and take the game to the Birds. Grilled were unprepared for the intensity of their assault, and after Ismail Leppert sent a header barely a foot over in the 41st minute, Otto Weingessl finally lobbed Silvera two minutes later for his side's first goal against Grilled.
The second half began with a change for each side, and Grilled substitute Ander Josefsson would hit the woodwork, following Mohd Firdaus' example earlier on. The visitors kept up their counterattacking gameplan, and Weingessl nearly managed to pull another one back, but his attempt was caught by a leaping Silvera. Martin Elmshorn was blocked off after another counter, and had either of those gone it, the match would certainly have become more interesting.
Unfortunately for the Magics, they didn't, and the onus was on Grilled to entertain the spectators. They would look to their leaders, and
Han Lik-Tsun, now acting vice-captain, got his first-ever friendly goal for the Birds, as he climbed all over Rumian in getting to Penati's cross. The goal stood, despite some disagreements by the Munich players.
Team captain
Quah Han Kok then curled a delightful free-kick over the opposition wall to make in 5-1 in the last minute of the game, and still had time to get a second dangerous strike off in injury time, which however sailed into the stands.
