Devil To Pay
Gene Out For Season
Piedmont-based Italian Division Six visitors Black Devil lacked not for ambition, but the Demoni would unavoidably be upended at The Cooking Pot by some late Grilled application. Heavy rainfall in the hours leading up to the friendly didn't do much for its entertainment potential, but the down-to-earth tussle had a - eventually vicious - charm of its own.
The Demoni would be led out by defender Jody Arcesilai, who had transitioned into covering from midfield for this one. From the looks of their 5-4-1, they were out to sharpen their defensive instincts, with 22 year-old homegrown goalkeeper Vittorio Rocco exuding an air of assurance between the sticks. For the Birds,
Wong Ping Shun would continue his fight for a return to the starting lineup at right wing, while
Zhao Jing Wei featured alongside
Leong Wan Kang up top.
One could be forgiven for imagining that Grilled were merely going through the motions in the buildup, with the prospect of battering down a veritable wall of opposing players in the mud, not all that popular.
Neeraj Muthyala did distinguish himself with his willingness to slog it, and he nearly created an opener for
Rashid bin Ahmad. Sadly, Rashid's vocation told as he bounced it weakly wide.
That marked the beginning of Grilled actually managing to get through the Demoni backline in spurts, as
Zhao Jing Wei began sowing doubt in young Dario Zumkehr and company. His mindgames would show their impact in the 40th minute, when Zumkehr turned right into
Rinor Isufi, in trying to open an angle for distributing the ball. Isufi snatched it away before the Swiss teen could respond, and powered it past Rocco with his other foot.
Demoni would promptly level after an unlikely turn of events - after Isufi had pushed Rocco to his limits with a fine lob that however stayed in the air marginally too long, they set off on a free-spirited counterattack, that ended with Moreno Albiero stretching to force a pass forward towards Renato Cassizzi. The frontman was thrown off by
Rashid bin Ahmad, but Evaristo Lomazzo had followed the move assiduously, and concluded his sixty-yard dash with a nice finish.
Celebrations were cut short, however, when the players realised that two of their number had been badly injured in the meantime. Although Albiero got his pass off, neither he nor
Gene Filippone would manage to pull out of their sprints, and had collided in an uncontrolled manner. The Demoni players were understandably suspicious of Filippone rolling about too, but it soon became clear that both were legitimately hurt.
Referee Martin Johansson had no issues against blowing for half-time immediately after the casualties were cleared off, with regular playmaker Camillo Rinaldo entering in place of Albiero for the visitors. Grilled made their changes after the interval, substituting
Remco van der Ban for Filippone, and getting
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim in for
Zhao Jing Wei.
Remco's fiery style was just what the circumstances called for, and he soon livened up the left in a manner that Filippone, for all his admirable stolidity, hadn't. With Isufi responding to his vibrancy, Demoni's transfer-listed rightback Andoni Biarnés found himself dragged in all directions by the duo, and Rocco was fortunate that Remco wasn't a better finisher when he charged in unhindered in the 56th minute.
This continued for a long while, as the rain began to fall again; Isufi would be the next to have a pop, which he sent straight at the goalie. Demoni were holding fast, though, and it seemed as if this might require extra time to be settled, when
Wong Ping Shun suddenly took over the whole game.
Having been reliable if predictable down the right, mostly battling to stalemates against the impressive 19 year-old Paolo Pische, Wong would rediscover the raw drive that had seen him considered amongst the premier local wingers once upon a time. Finally overwhelming Pische, he would barrage his flank with short passes, given that the conditions had made crossing ineffective, and
Hilal Bakhtiar would soon benefit with a messy close-ranged tap-in.
Remco van der Ban then put it up to 3-1 as Demoni's organization began to break, which would be more than enough to see the Birds through.
