Vikings Raid
Five Without Fighting
Grilled sunk to their worst league defeat since they were thrashed 6-0 by BBrookies four seasons ago, as it all came together for relegation-threatened ArseVikings at The Arsebowl. While their campaign had been characterised by near-misses, there was nothing of the sort today, with five different scorers contributing to a memorable win.
The Birds rolled out a seldom-seen 3-4-3 formation, which could have been a part of their downfall.
Qassem Madaini was given the responsibility of securing the middle, while
Slavcho Tzonkov and
Lin Jungui were told to stay wide, to guard against ArseVikings' wing threats. Unfortunately, all of them seemed far more used to a compact shape that relied less on their mobility and more on positioning, and Grilled would pay the price.
There was no indication of Grilled's collapse for much of the first half, as the Birds gave as good as they got. The battle was tense, with the hosts knowing that anything less than a win would not do, and their players began to give that additional bit with strong support from the stands. Eventually, Spanish forward Abilio Cabana de Bergantiños would get his nose ahead of Madaini, who looked discomfited at the lack of support. Jungui tried to get back to cover, but he was standing too far away, and could not prevent de Bergantiños from getting his successful strike off.
Grilled's response came through skipper
Gleb Dorogan, but the Moldovan's shot taken on the run was well tipped aside by Brazilian goalie Otaviano Marques. Grilled would end up feeling fortunate to enter half-time just one down, as flank-switching winger Cyril van Steensel and fullback Piergiuseppe Massenzio both hit the woodwork in a frantic last five minutes, as a flailing Tzonkov received a booking for one desperate shirt-pull too many.
Fortune would catch up with them, although the Grilled bench could afford to keep impassive with news coming from See Mee Lan Park that challenges for the sixth spot BDSM FC had gone three down in the first 25 minutes. The Birds' attack looked disjointed with Chow feeling the effects of a long season, and Han's decision to put an off-colour
Seytek Djekshenkulov on for Tzonkov somehow managed to further damage Grilled's output.
Grilled's hopes of getting a draw or better went up in smoke in two short minutes, with Piergiuseppe Massenzio notching on a counterattack while the Grilled players were still deciding who should cover the hole left at rightback, and they were still all at sea when Mario Vino took on a harried Madaini and recorded ArseViking's third with an unstoppable rocket into the top corner.
That was basically it, and several Grilled heads dropped perceptibly despite the coach screaming at them from the sidelines.
Dexter Stacey tried the same, but even his passioned imprecations did not help matters as former Thai U-20 midfielder Tanawit Klumsakul attacked the still-empty right side to add a fourth.
It was just lousy luck for the visitors, as they had more than enough chances to at least grab a face-saving consolation, with
Erik Back and
Lin Jungui both stumbling at the last hurdle. It was left to Deng Chongde to apply checkmate, sidestepping Stacey to give the Vikings renewed hope for the future.
Word then got out that BDSM FC had pulled two back, but Han at this stage was resigned to the team's fate, and kept with his original plan of giving former ArseVikings youngster
Li Boon Boon his competitive debut at his former club. Li ended up closing down a number of the opposition players, but could do nothing about the embarassing scoreline.
