Advance Stalled
Ying Lee Yellow Fever
Grilled remained rooted to the bottom of the table as they failed to defeat Batavia Cavaliers at home, despite going ahead in the first half to
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim's first goal in eight competitive appearances.
Chow Ying Lee's sending off encouraged a late rally by the Cavaliers, who equalised to stay ahead of the Birds.
It was meant to be a gentle introduction back to football for former Titus Titanium IV midfielder
lu Zunwen, or as gentle as could be expected in the competitive cauldron of Division Two. Lu, as befitting a player with several such seasons already under his belt, fitted in adequately at left wing, going about his duties as well as could have been expected for a natural central player.
This at least did allow
Seytek Djekshenkulov to be moved back to his preferred position, and the resurgent Kyrgystani, just turned 22 today, rewarded the fans with some quite inventive play, especially when interchanging with
Paolo Iten. Together, they engaged the Cavaliers defence sufficiently to make them forget about Mohd Safri, who grabbed the opportunity to shake free in the 21st minute and lob Eugen Falkenhusen to end what he had described as "one of his worst lifetime scoring droughts".
The supporters were extremely optimistic at this stage of the match, with Grilled's moves flowing like water, and
Slavcho Tzonkov might conceivably have killed the game off when he crept in and loosened a devastating humdinger that skipped off the grass and then off the post with Falkenhusen in no position to stop it.
That turned out to be as good as it would get for the Birds, unfortunately, and they soon ran out of ideas to get the ball to the frontlines. The few times they did, it always seemed moments away from being returned with interest, and only quick hands by
Dexter Stacey saved Grilled from being caught when Edilio Zeppegno got in behind Tzonkov in the 40th minute.
Thankfully, Grilled's fans were mostly so starved of home success that they were willing to overlook these vulnerabilities, and generously applauded the team when they went in for the break, still in the lead. Head coach
Han Lik-Tsun, who had just announced his planned retirement, looked slightly more concerned, but remained confident enough not to make any changes.
He should really have spotted the warning signs when
Chow Ying Lee, eager to maintain his stellar record here, chopped Falkenhusen down in an attempt to win a ball he had no business winning, after Chow had the gall to berate referee Luther Floyd despite being fortunate to escape with a yellow card.
Perhaps Han's hands were tied, looking at how unconvincing Grilled's overall attack had become as the game wore on, and sensing that their time had come, the Batavia side withdrew Norwegian captain Torgeir Mjelde for the fresh legs of Florian Gueydan.
Gueydan was clearly out to burn his excess energy harrying the frustrated Grilled midfield, and this approach paid dividends when he managed to put his body in front of Chow as the two tussled for possession. Chow was furious at the perceived foul not being called, and made it a point to stick his leg out across Gueydan the next time the two came together. Lange had no choice but to pull out his cards for the second time.
With only fifteen minutes remaining, this might not have been fatal, and Han to his credit immediately had
Alex Fonseca on his feet to warm up, and instructed the fourth official that he wanted to pull
Tian Yonghang off to protect the lead. Yonghang's number was already on the electronic board when English fullback Dan Hartshorne cut inside and levelled, which forced a hasty adjustment on the Grilled end; Tzonkov would come off instead, with Grilled needing a winning goal.
Fonseca proved an inspired substitution as he more than countered Gueydan's impact with an influence born of experience, and the reliable Portuguese backup even managed to work his way through the opposition defence and test Falkenhusen with a passable grounder. The Cavaliers held on with grim determination, though, and would eventually claim their point.
