Valentain Sacking
Sekreckis Steal
The Birds couldn't catch a break, as their bid for a morale-boosting diversion was smacked down by Virsliga club Valentain. Currently second in Latvia and coached by Aleksandrs Arimans, who splits his time with the national team, Valentain gave up the lead thrice to their visitors, but came back each time, before snatching it at the death.
They were gracious enough to leave Grilled a fighting chance with their XI, which was led 43 year-old rookie trainer Egīls Stendzenieks. Artur Pinheiro and Efgenijus Sekreckis were their main offensive threats - and quite excellent ones, as would be seen - with the capped Jānis Ceris supplying them from midfield.
That said, Grilled were not wanting too badly for glitter either, and
Chow Ying Lee introduced himself boldly in the fifth minute. Panned for their ponderous buildups, the Birds allowed a glimpse of what could be, as Chow nearly sped clear, with Rodions Vāsulis requiring an outstanding tackle to throw Chow off.
Low Aik Jia whacked the rebound against the keeper, but Chow had bargained for that, and was in place to tap home.
Valentain took just three minutes to reply, with Ceris' mazy dribbling bringing them several free-kicks in succession. The last of these was played short to Māris Spīders, whose rather haphazard effort ping-ponged between
Hilal Bakhtiar and
Clément Meyer before Artur Pinheiro lodged it into the net with his abundant Portuguese flair.
The remainder of the half belonged to Grilled, but keeping to form, they wilted all too often at the final stage.
Rashid bin Ahmad and
Rinor Isufi put near-guaranteed goals into the woodwork, and only
Leong Wan Kang's picking up on Stendzenieks' disorientation in the 20th minute allowed the Birds to get ahead again.
The hosts improved, and shortly after Leong had given Orlando Armas something to think about with a crowd-pleasing rake from well outside the area, young Valdemārs Rozītis equalized. The beefy teenager had been eager if not crafty down the right, but this was enough for him to bump Bakhtiar aside and claim a free run on goal in the 57th minute.
Luis Alcántara's response was to take
Chow Ying Lee off for
Pompeo Bellamoli, and while strange at first look, Chow's level had been falling off steeply, his stamina no longer what it once was. The arrival of his longtime practice partner did perk Leong up, even if Bellamoli had little to do with Grilled's third, a tricky free-kick exchange between
Rinor Isufi and
Zhao Jing Wei.
Valentain didn't even wait till the minute was out to cancel that, as Efgenijus Sekreckis drove it past
Krystian Rykowski, who really could have done better with that one.
Grilled appeared to be resigned to a draw, but even that would be denied them; late sub
Domenik Bögengang was largely invisible, and after
Pompeo Bellamoli went very close with a lob onto the crossbar, Valentain's lightning-fast counter caught them with their pants down, and Sekreckis finished it off from close up.
