Camuna Canning
Wet Blanket
The rain might have played fully into AC Camuna's tactics, but this 0-4 defeat to the Italian Division Five club was nonetheless a stake into the heart of Grilled Birds' self-esteem. Exceptional goalkeeping from former national custodian Lorenzo Franzoni moreover kept the Birds from even a consolation goal, as AC Camuna's collapsing midfield in a 3-5-2 worked wonders to shield their Number One when it mattered.
This was before getting into AC Camuna's quality in attack, and while Per Krogsæter and Břetislav Hnátek were perhaps both slightly past their prime, they remained a formidable tandem - particularly physically. 35 year-old Turkish skipper Mehmet Kanun had the brains to contain
Brian Reddy to a large extent, all the more with Suriname expat Xie Lijie as insurance behind him. The Italians admittedly did enjoy a slice of luck when an awkward bounce caught
Aw Keng Chuan unprepared in the seventh minute, and from the aftermath, Hnátek would tap it back to Ignaz Jeannin for a clean finish.
With visibility at a premium and windspeed as it was, Grilled's usual passing game was severely limited, and it would often come down to whether the gusts favoured one team or the other. AC Camuna had the upper hand in this regard with their strikers being used to this style of play, and Per Krogsæter's stability in adverse conditions made a stark contrast with
Chad Thach in the 15th minute. Krogsæter stayed on his feet despite Thach's stiff challenge, and the Grilled lad could only watch on with soaked pants, as Krogsæter lashed it firmly past
Dimitris Germanakos.
It was getting a little embarassing for the Birds, and doubly so for
Brian Reddy, whose miscontrolled touch nearly resulted in a 19th minute own goal, which was thankfully bailed out by the goalkeeper.
Joe Reece would be calling from the right flank as Grilled found space there for once, but
Chad Thach's strong finish on the sweeping move would be parried by Franzoni. It would get worse, as the Italians won a free-kick just outside the penalty area from the counterattack, and Mike Nyborg took it early for 3-0.
That would sate AC Camuna's appetites plenty, and they would settle into a dynamic rearguard action for the remainder of the half. That made for limited action near either goal, and it would take a fifteen-minute rest, for Grilled to regain sufficient energy to threaten the opposition goal. A brief respite in the rainstorm had Grilled work their way through the middle, but
Mohd Marzuki Khairul's setup of Thach in the 48th minute would again be denied by Franzoni, who threw his arms up to ward off another likely goal.
Grilled were not wanting for endeavour, and AC Camuna would have to dig deep into their reserves at times, to keep the Birds out. Nyborg would be booked in the 63rd minute for one foul too many in midfield, and after
Evandro La Face came on for
Orest Tokarz in the 70th, Grilled would have a nice spell in AC Camuna's box with the Spaniard's direction.
Chia Kwang Tse only had to get it on target as he bore down on goal with Franzoni grounded for once, but he couldn't find the inside of the post, to his own great regret.
There would be one last sub for Grilled with
Phua Ming Xin entering for a sparkling but ultimately unproductive
Gústav Thoroddsen, but it would be Břetislav Hnátek to instead heap on the shame, with a tidy header in injury time. Mehmet Kanun then received a yellow card in literally the last second of the game, as he took down
Brian Reddy late to nearly spark a game ending melee.
