Rung At Speed
Strikeback
Grilled's goal-starved forwards gorged themselves against visiting Northern Irish Division Three side Belfast Warriors, who defended stoutly for the first half-hour, only to fall by the wayside as the Birds got in the mood. Still, the Warriors' reserves gave a fair account of themselves, and Danish first-teamer Tue Smed set himself as one to watch in his brief cameo.
The rain did nobody any favours, but it was Finlay Petrie who suffered the most, leaving fellow English expat Zheng Ruijiang to pick up the pieces. It did stop Grilled from pushing up as much as they'd like too, though
Tian Yonghang put in a scary 35-footer that had Luis Adrián Luque concerned.
It was clear that this would be no vintage football from the outset, with Warriors intent on getting the ball away any time they could, and few were surprised by the manner in which the first goal arrived.
Qassem Madaini was a long way from home when he swirled in a cross from high left, and while that was warded off, a couple of short bounces left
Chow Ying Lee with an open shot.
Shiya Shaahee, who has reportedly put in a transfer request over his lack of playing time, certainly adjusted himself in the shop window with a pulsating run under the conditions in the very next minute. While fending off Warriors skipper Jonathan Windsor shoulder-to-shoulder, Shaahee nipped out-and-in to pass Francis Crawford too, and clipped coolly past Luque.
The visitors were reduced to damage limitation after
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim finding a third in the 56th minute, the end product of some very nice interplay between him and the front two.
Djan Bacelar then claimed his seventh friendly goal since his arrival with a wonderfully-accurate free-kick, to much acclaim from the some 3000 faithful who had bunked in.
Pompeo Bellamoli made a 70th minute appearance amidst comments that he had been stagnating, and quickly showed that he had retained some of his early fire by running Abe Arnot into the ground. That was not necessarily good news for the Birds, however, as replacement Tue Smed was by far a more accomplished striker, albeit one currently struggling with fitness issues.
None of that was a problem with so little time remaining, and he nearly latched onto a great long ball by Neil Huckerby seconds after coming in. It was still Grilled who held the cards, though, and after a comical penalty appeal by Shaahee after a botched set-piece arrangement, Mohd Safri increased the lead further with a steal and conversion.
Gleb Dorogan waltzed in for the final five minutes, Smed got carded in the process of shifting Man of the Match
Rashid bin Ahmad off the ball, and
Tian Yonghang finally returned to scoring ways with an alert finish, again courtesy of a very active Shaahee.
