Monoliths Unmoved
Gudivada Grabs Consolation
Swiss Division Six side The_Monoliths were too strong for Grilled at home, as their sandy-yellow on black strip swallowed the visitors, helped by the pre-soaked pitch. The over four thousand fans wholly enjoyed themselves, and seemed to have a pet nickname for each of their players.
Prominent in the early exchanges was defender Walo Seiler, tagged "Salty" for some reason, probably related to his knack of delivering the ball where he wanted it - he appeared to have misjudged an early free-kick routine, only to smack the ball with his wrong foot and send it at the onrushing Gino Giraud, who was eager to wow potential suitors with a cracking header. Sadly for him,
Hovaness Noubaryan was alert to the danger.
Monoliths got the better of Noubaryan after a few more tries, with Gregor Liembd getting in a close to magical touch that completely fooled the onrushing defenders, one that had otherwise been suppressed by the poor conditions.
There was then a flashpoint as Ludovic Alves's youthful fervour got the better of him, and he indiscreetly kneed
Krishnan Adabala after what he felt was an unpunished tackle; Adabala made as if to react but was hustled away by his quick-thinking colleagues before any damage was done. Referee Yamal Donahue conferred with his linesman, and found it easy to pull out the red card.
That didn't slow the home side as they scored the very next minute, with Seiler delivering once again. His corner sailed to big Hansjürg Leiber, who rose above
Hilal Bakhtiar without too much trouble, which meant that the Monoliths defence were two up against the Birds.
They would not have it all their way, as
Mayur Gudivada, who has been sniffing about the edges of the first team, did his chances no harm with a composed penalty kick past a wrongfooted František Obst.
Tang Hengcai had won it with a strong run that was forcefully blocked off, along the edge of the area.
Noubaryan would save a right stinger from Enrico Bernhauer before half-time. After a welcome rest,
Teo Yong Yau could have tied it up in the 51th minute after Tang and Wardi combined brilliantly to open up a channel for him through the heart of the Monoliths defence, but Teo's right foot failed him as he squeaked a laughable effort that might well have stopped by itself before reaching the goal.
Winger Dani Greenberg showed Teo how it was done with a decisive strike through Noubaryan's legs, which was the signal for travelling coach Luis Alcántara to unleash his secret weapon, who was none other than
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim; Wardi looked almost starstruck as the two high-fived before exchanging roles.
Despite that promising entrance, it was the Monoliths who retained the upper hand, even as they set two men on Grilled's new dangerman. Liembd tried his luck and missed with an outrageous whipped ball off another free-kick, but all the Birds would have to show was another substitution, of
Walter Ross for
Colby Awyong.
