Blue Starfall
Jan Walks
Grilled's all-out offence shredded Blue Stars F.C's 4-3-3, with oldie
Ma Dai-Lin cheered by travelling fans on being picked to roam on the left. Rottman was selected over Stanton to transmit more attacking bite, and the strategem paid off handsomely as he furnished two goals within the half hour to make Grilled rest easy.
The all-blues began disastrously last weekend as they crumbled 0-5 against Ampang FC, but persevering through the previous season on a shoestring budget, not to mention battling to the semi-finals of the Singapore Cup, told volumes about their cohesiveness.
The basic strength was absent unfortunately with Grilled obeying explicit instructions to attack from width, and
Hidde van Liere stretched their backline from the get-go. Often shy about hammering shots at goal, the Dutch right winger inexplicably flashed a wicked bender past the far post when he had strikers waiting in the box.
Siu-Yue broke away down the right after a Stars counter-attack, and Rottman split two defenders with a change of direction. Peripheral vision let Siu-Yue touch the ball halfway between Rottman and the goalkeeper, and the attacking midfielder did the rest with a sliding finish.
More to come from Rottman, as he traded passes with Langeland and cut in a low pass that his contemporary Jean-Luc Sackmann should have kept out. It slipped between his feet, though, and Langeland was first to react with a swipe at the freely-bouncing ball. More good fortune for the Norge forward as it came off another defender and gave Mohd Ramzi little hope.
Argentinean defender Fernando Guerrero embarked on a powerful run that took Grilled's midfield completely by surprise, and
Fabian Bona shoulder-charged him as a last resort as he approached the penalty area. Guerrero had a case as he took the brunt of the hard challenge, but referee Daniel Hernandez had none of it and booked him. Minutes later, van Liere bent in a short cross that Rottman volleyed cleanly into the bottom corner. van Liere was soon carded for an unnecessary tackle before the half ended.
The second half saw the Stars even more cautious, but Grilled had a great opportunity when recent buy
Jörgen Falkbo had the goal gaping in front of him after a piece of nice dribbling by Dai-Lin on the left. Luis Rodríguez distracted him with a quick recovery, and the Swede defender tamely put it wide.
Denied repeatedly by quality defending,
Jan Langeland purposely ran into a tackle in the 78th minute, an obvious move that did not escape the referee's assistant. Langeland expressed his displeasure energetically, and fellow Norwegian Bengt Eneman pressed the advantage from the instant free-kick to receive a great ball from Chavero. Eneman's kick was rugby-styled, sadly for his team.
Martinsson must have felt that his luck would never end, when Langeland did earn a penalty after he was held down in the penalty area. To his horror, though, he stumbled on his run-up producing a soft shot that Mohd Ramzi gathered gratefully, the first spot-kick he had missed for Grilled. Langeland was sent off soon after as he provoked a pushing incident.
Just when it appeared Martinsson's current form had taken a dip, the Swede hitman was given a second chance from a much more difficult position. The free-kick was won some way from the area at a bad angle, but Martinsson duly made amends with superb placing directly into the far corner for the fourth and last goal.
