Olos Oh-la-la
Kwan-Woo Deadly
Nervy Grilled fans were left clutching at their seats as Division Four team The Olos United stormed two goals in front in a rollercoaster ride of a Cup match. Olos defended centrally and fed the ball wide to Ruedi Scheider and Liam Hargreaves to hold, but Grilled spurned the first real chance as
Dani Spirig hit it well only for French keeper Jean-Louis Avexy to swipe out.
Cai Shi-An's substitution off for Xavier Jacquelin indirectly set the Olos ablaze, as the long throw from defence fell to an unguarded Chen Kwan-Woo, who wasn't picked up until he had let fly a glorious missile from well out to embarass a dozing
Clair Harlow. Scheider slotted another in from the kick-off, and Olos were well on track for a major upset.
Grilled pulled themselves together, and Langeland put in the all-important quick reply from surprise inclusion
Ma Dai-Lin's jackpot blind pass. Another oldie equalised in the 43rd minute, as Martinsson and Langeland parted the defence for
Lan Tuan-Mu to puff in and select the right corner of goal.
Just when it appeared that Olos were going to be buried, Chen Kwan-Woo served notice that the home side were just getting prepared. Grilled's
Dragos Olaru had shown very little understanding, and sure enough made a horrible reading and handed possession to Hargreaves. The New Zealander evaded a mistimed tackle and prodded on for Kwan-Woo to give Olos the half-time lead.
Grilled emerged from the tunnel in do-or-die mode, and suicidal defending went unpunished as
Lorenz Paullin brought Grilled back from the grave with a follow-up on a rising, hard to catch shot. Spirig placed undue pressure on himself when he made one tough challenge too many for the referee to overlook.
The game was otherwise just what a Cup contest should be, with passions running high and comparatively few stoppages. The final ingredient - controversy - was thrown into the mix, when
Ma Dai-Lin seemed to have thrown his trailing leg into a defender on a dead-end run. Referee Edelbert Bonte gave the signal for a spot-kick, and Martinsson lined it up and mechanically gave Grilled the lead.
Olos staged a comeback as 30 year-old Kwan-Woo left Harlow with no chance of getting to a deliciously weighted lob from just outside the area. The hat-trick was rewarded with a standing ovation from his club's supporters, as they contemplated a trip into the next round.
Believing that they could fell Grilled with one last great push, Olos were themselves left short at the back as Spirig ran diagonally from the left to tap in. Langeland's 78th minute strike merely incited Olos to greater effort, but with a two goal cushion Grilled concentrated on defending in depth and sat it out to the end.
