Ground Round
Rudolph Scalps Birds
In what was one of the most incredible matches to have taken place at The Cooking Pot, Ghanaian Division Two visitors ROUNDS F.C recovered from a 4-1 deficit to prevail 5-6, making it the first occasion that the stadium has seen a double-digit scoreline with both sides scoring at least three goals, and only the fourth time that it has witnessed eleven or more in a single match, with the record still Grilled's 1-11 loss to FC LoMeu five seasons back.
It all began all-so-rosily for the home side, with the youthful exuberance of the juniors shining through.
Teo Yong Yau was first to make a meaningful impact, as he claimed his first goal since the Cup with an instinctive flick off
Hung Wee Li's cross, with Hung himself later stopped only by a delightful save from the transfer-listed Humphrey van Hulten.
That discouraged the Birds none, and the benefits of operating together soon began to manifest, with several players showing mutual understanding beyond the norm.
Wardi Azhari's time in the treatment room with
Tang Hengcai seems to have paid dividends as the former searched the latter out without even looking, allowing Tang to head in the second, while Indian duo
Mayur Gudivada and
Krishnan Adabala combined magnificently at a corner for another successful aerial score.
A less mentally-strong team might have collapsed at that, but ROUNDS F.C grimly kept to the fundamentals, and were consoled with a textbook finish by German forward Rudolph Wächterhäuser after he was carelessly let through.
Teo Yong Yau wasn't about to let that stand, though, and nutmegged van Hulten to make it a safe-looking 4-1 going into half-time.
Teo would not step back on the field, however, as Alcántara gave
Liew Soon Ting another go. Whatever was the cause, Grilled's youngsters began to fade appreciably as they had against Angry Wolfes last Wednesday, and they had barely gotten started when Wächterhäuser ran through Colby and pulled another back.
The transition to a defensive mindset was tricky for Grilled to navigate, and it turned out that the lads were far less prepared and willing defenders than attackers. While there was perhaps no preventing Etienne Leleu's exquisite layoff to Alberto Álvarez, who rifled in from the edge of the box, Sven-Erik Smidemann was completely unmarked when he nodded in the equaliser in the 63rd minute.
This inspired the flicker of a response from the Birds as
Mayur Gudivada immediately struck back with a delicate first touch to kill
Li Boon Boon's bullet-like pass dead, but Palestine winger Zimraan Ibrahim forced a second equaliser in off a goaline scramble, before Wächterhäuser bagged the winner - and his hat-trick - twelve minutes from time.