Swagger Maintained
Bălan Buoy
Arrogancae's astonishing undefeated home record in the league, stretching back more than five seasons, came under serious threat for the first time since seluraralc had similarly pulled back from two goals down a couple of months ago, but as again the home team managed to power through with a late decider.
Despite
Domenik Bögengang's expressing an ambition to shatter Arrogancae's streak before the game, the team that Grilled brought to Avengers Apocalypse was rather more suited to holding out for a draw. Five defenders made up the back, and while Vukota and Mausisa could theoretically bomb upfield on the flanks, they displayed little inclination to do so.
Arrogancae were content to rely upon their tried-and-tested 3-5-2, and Romanian attacking midfielder Georgică Bălan nearly made good on their first serious attack as he sent the ball skidding barely a metre wide of
Dexter Stacey's net. The Canadian goalkeeper quickly sent a goal-kick right back, and had not yet finished screaming at his defenders when Vukota, who may have sprinted forward to escape the anticipated tirade, nearly gave the Birds a shock lead as he sidefooted onto the crossbar.
With the obligatory opening exchange done with, Grilled settled down and began choking the hosts' two forwards of space, limiting them to a single wonderstrike from deep that also found the crossbar, from Finn Teemu Martiskin. Spectators on both sides might have felt like hitting the bar to drown their sorrows too, given the mostly uninspiring play, but the best they could do was to order snacks from their seats.
The second half got off to a much brighter start for the majority of the attendees, as speedy forward Darmantas Niurnaitis sidestepped away from his markers and squeezed a perfect pass through to strike partner Joe Nichols, who got there just ahead of Stacey. Grilled were rattled by that, and Georgică Bălan doubled the lead about ten minutes later, with
Walter Ross unable to keep up.
With their usual cushion in place, Arrogancae began to defend their advantage, something they have become used to at home. Levi Kramers took no chances as he accepted a booking for blocking a quick free-kick, an act that was as appreciated by the home support as it was whistled by the visitors'.
Things looked bleak for Grilled as they had not even scored at this ground since Rotteveel got one in a 3-1 defeat seven long seasons ago, but new signing
Alex Fonseca picked a fine time to put a stop to that, as he arrowed the ball past S$13 million Italian goalie Massimo Cazzulati after
Chow Ying Lee had gotten free on the right.
That was Fonseca's last kick of the match as he was immediately replaced by
Marc Pujolràs, who took to the match like a fish to water. Arrogancae then suffered a huge setback as they missed a penalty in the 75th minute, with Luis Victor Loinaz apparently put off by Stacey's aggressiveness, and worse was to come as
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim equalised virtually unchallenged from a corner.
Everything was going for the visitors at this point, and they came extremely close to ultimate victory as former Filipino U-20 defender
Roberto Mausisa reprised his swashbuckling younger days with a breathtakingly effective stepover that had Loinaz tackling air. Unfortunately for him, Cazzulati had the angles covered, and beat the finishing grounder aside.
Grilled's drive to end Arrogancae's record proved their undoing, as both Mausisa and Vukota had their age show after several lung-bursting runs down the length of the pitch, allowing Bălan to come through and volley the winning goal home.
