Antara Passed
Shaahee, Leong Begin
The reserves did brilliantly to overhaul Greek Division Three visitors antara is back after falling behind by two goals, with a couple of much-anticipated scorers thrown in the mix to the delight of the watchers.
Shiya Shaahee finally opened his account after nearly a thousand minutes of play, while returnee
Leong Wan Kang had no such issues, banging it in on his debut despite starting in midfield.
With
Paolo Iten impressing in his recent league and tournament games, Shaahee might find it harder to return to the first-team, but could at least find consolation in the second eleven being mostly set up to cater to his strengths -
Mayur Gudivada was pulled back to the middle to accommodate the Maldivian winger, with instructions to shift play to the left wing whenever possible.
It was antara, kitted out in their vivid away colours of red with a black cross, that did most of the initial attacking though, as Leong for one was unsure of Grilled's midfield system. The visitors ruthlessly exploited this weakness, and after some close shaves including a reaction save by
Hovaness Noubaryan against Grigoris Kyratzis, they scored on a snappy cross-field move that saw youngster Naoum Sakellaropoulos supply Kyratzis with a second chance, which the striker snapped up this time.
antara were two up by the 33rd minute, as they continued pushing the envelope, and confused the Grilled backline with a series of one-touch passes that released Charis Zoumpadellis into the clear. The other of antara's forwards appeared a little over-excited as he considered the best way to go about putting the ball into the net, understandable for a seventeen year-old, and settled on the good old put-your-foot-through-it-hard method.
Reserve coach Luis Alcántara certainly expected better of his side, and came out shouting after that second goal. Despite little tactical information being passed on, that injection of emotion had its effect, and Grilled perked up significantly. The balls began to get through the left as planned, and 42 minutes in, Shiya's moment of glory finally arrived as he frantically dashed onto a lob by
Neo Da Teck to thump it off the grass and into goal.
There was a slight suspicion of contact with the arm, raised by the antara defenders, but neither Shiya, who was busy celebrating, nor the fans would have any of it. Referee Stewart Dior Anthony, not being in a position to judge, consulted his linesman, and after some consideration the goal was allowed to stand.
In contrast, there would be no controversy over the immediately following goal, as the opposition defenders were completely bamboozled by the flashing feet of
Pompeo Bellamoli, who switched flanks at the restart. Shaahee provided an option on the outside, but it was not needed by the Italian trainee, who attempted a difficult drive to the exposed far corner with the confidence of youth, and did it.
Those two minutes meant that Grilled had cancelled out antara's work done over the majority of the half, and the Greeks responded with a shake-up at the beginning of the second half. Teenaged German wide player Sören Taufkirch was given his chance, moving up from defence to attacking left wing with Mozambique player Jorge Santos Guerra going the other way, while homegrown Panos Yiannakoglou replaced the equally-unpronounceable Nikos Dermitzakis, and then made a show of exchanging positions with Naoum Sakellaropoulos.
The Grilled team could be forgiven for not getting a handle on the changes, and antara's strong start led to them taking the lead once more, as Panos Kalonis soared to head in a corner from Kyratzis that reached the far post area. Kyratzis nearly made the match all about himself when he blasted a free-kick through the Grilled defensive wall after two disguised run-ups made it split, but it drifted just wide to Noubaryan's relief.
The Birds did slowly up their game to match the visitors, and they regained parity in the 64th minute after
Tang Hengcai was pushed off the ball after getting off better in a tussle with Yiannatos in the six-yard box.
Hilal Bakhtiar was given the responsibility of converting the penalty, and he did so with characteristic calmness, waiting for Anastasios Goutis to commit to one side before tucking it away.
Something was still missing despite the entertainment on the pitch, and
Leong Wan Kang reminded everyone of just what it was when he popped out from nowhere to make it 4-3 in the 73rd minute. Leong had had a totally forgettable run in central midfield, but his uncanny smell for goal meant that he scored on his club debut for a third time - and he hasn't even turned eighteen!
That was it, as antara began to tire noticeably under the scorching tropical sun, with Naoum Sakellaropoulos even showing some signs of heatstroke. The much-better adapted
Colby Awyong found the post in the 82nd minute as he sought to burn up his remaining energy before being substituted by
Walter Ross, while
Yvan Lefébure too added to his appearance tally filling in for Teo.
