Unathletic Unison
First-Half Triple
Basking in the uncharacteristic sunlight of Bedfordshire, England, Grilled Birds were downed by ten minutes of action as Lack of Athletic FC took too great a lead to overtake.
Miguel Reed and
Tim Hobson represented Grilled upfront, and Hobson did nothing to discourage Reed's detractors by stealing his thunder with two goals in his homeland.
The game began to heat up after a slow start only after about 20 minutes, when the young
Chai Yew-Hoe nearly caved in to pressure and gave away the ball in a sensitive situation. Hobson set things right in haste, by eluding Neil Snape on his flank to slip in a soft shot to give Grilled Birds one-up.
It didn't last, as Lack of Athletic FC's Billy Landow got to
Hang Bao-Tam unopposed as
Gao Seng-kar and bin Che Lah were stranded in the offensive half on a raid. Bao-Tam dived, too late.
Five minutes later,
Lan Tuan-Mu was picked out for obstruction in the box. He was not booked, but Francis Langford converted the penalty using a slow run-up which caused Bao-Tam to stand his ground as the penalty was stroked into the bottom right of the goal.
Lack of Athletic FC's revival wasn't slowing, as sweeper Jon Stephenson profited from an attack in numbers on the right flank. He managed to break away from the confusion with possession, and stepped around Hobson's amateurish tackle before finding the goal with a dipping shot.
Miguel Reed in his agiation took out Lack of Athletic FC's German midfielder Adrian Dülken none too gently, for which the referee gave a yellow. Grilled had the ball for the final few minutes of the half, but made no headway.
If the first half belonged to Lack of Athletic FC for those ten minutes, the start of the second half was Grilled's as
Miguel Reed almost sparked a comeback with a stylish turnaround shot from just ten metres. It surprised Stephenson certainly, but span wildly into the side netting.
Barnbrook then condemned
Kau Siu-Cheung to the sidelines with a bone-crunching challenge, but Grilled scarcely missed him as they were spending the bulk of their time advancing.
Asher Stanton threaded the needle with a pass through three well-placed opposition players, but Hobson for once was not up to it.
Hobson received a caution for showing his disgust rather graphically. He didn't disappoint with his next touches, though, always threatening, and in the 79th minute he pulled Grilled back to 3-2 with an expertly taken long chip.
Lack of Athletic FC then rallied for the remainder of the game, flustering the normally reliable
Lan Tuan-Mu and almost putting the game beyond contention with a late strike from San, who had been quiet all match long. Balenciaga thrust his arm out just sufficiently to deflect the ball past a post. For all its worth, it did not change the eventual result, as Lack of Athletic FC finished 3-2 winners in front of their home supporters.
