Socked Hard
Erik Agony
Grilled's latest Cup adventure drew to a close as soccerid got their first win, and indeed goals, against a lacklustre Birds side, who failed to score yet again as they went down 2-0.
After much speculation as to what tactics they would bring with them to Duxton Hill Park,
Han Lik-Tsun opted for the middle way of a 4-3-3, dropping the slightly unfit Vukota and introducing
Erik Back on the right flank in an attempt to stretch the soccerid defence, a gamble that would end in tears.
soccerid paraded their best 3-5-2 unchanged, and Grilled allowed them the initiative in an effort to draw the hosts out. All went according to plan as a stray forward lob was scooped up by Stacey and flung a long way down the left side in the 22nd minute, from which some further rapid passes manufactured an opportunity for new defender
Slavcho Tzonkov. Sadly for Grilled, he buried it in the side-netting.
Stacey, who was named captain again in the absence of Dorogan, then saved Grilled once again with an unbelievable reaction stop from Cai Kunming. Kunming, who had been pointed out by the Grilled camp as one to watch before the match, timed his break forward superbly for Viktor Widl to slide a through pass at him, and only Stacey's awareness gave him any chance at all.
The turning point came when
Erik Back pulled up painfully halfway when chasing a ball over the top along the right touchline, and he struggled on for several more steps before sitting down, his day clearly over. Han was not expecting this, and after some hurried discussions, including a false start by
Gleb Dorogan, the coach motioned for
Yvan Lefébure to take his place.
Grilled seemed to have shrugged Back's loss off, as
Marc Pujolràs continued his impressive run of form with an audacious strike on the move from all of thirty metres that swerved heart-stoppingly close to Sebők's goal. However, soccerid again followed up a Grilled near miss with an attack of their own, and this time Anton Heinsohn was there to nod it in.
The Birds trooped out for the second half still confident, given their recent reputation for comebacks, but their task was made doubly hard not three minutes in, as Italian centreback Dino La Malfa charged in onto yet another Widl cross. Tzonkov had found the lanky winger a real piece of work throughout, and was nowhere near when he delivered from wide.
Dorogan made a belated entry in the 60th minute as Grilled sought another moment of magic, but soccerid were too professional to let such a lead slip, and they secured a quarter-final spot at the expense of Grilled.
