Vedranovi Venting
Kadić Blows Top
Grilled obtained their first victory against Bosnian and Herzegovinian opposition with their 5-2 result at Nou Kamp today, after three previous attempts ended in defeat. Former Kup prijateljstva Bosne i Hercegovine holders Vedranovi lavovi staged a late renaissance after shipping four goals, but flared out mid-comeback.
With a return to the second division in their sights, Vedranovi nevertheless remained true to their commitment to youth development, as they fielded several teenagers in their lineup. Hungarian Ferenc Csonka captained the side, advancing from his usual position in defence, with Argentine Number Eight Ricardo Leoncio Murias expected to do double duty beside him on the right flank.
The Birds kept their usual trainee midfield, which however had the mercurial
Gennady Dvorak to aim for. Vedranovi's main strategy appeared to be negating Dvorak's quality with ceaseless close-quarters man-marking, a tack that soon visibly irritated him with its thoroughness.
It could have become very dreary indeed, had referee Pierre Guillemaud not shaken the friendly up with his eighth minute call -
Leong Wan Kang's tame strike was well saved by Vid Noršić, but a penalty was then awarded ostensibly due to it brushing Jovan Nedeljković's hand on the way. Nobody else appeared to have noticed that, but
Rinor Isufi wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth, and stroked it home smoothly.
The injustice of it all fired up the hosts, and
Kalki Parvathaneni gave up a booking as Vedranovi drove the Birds back in their rage. The greviously-wronged Nedeljković gave over to his emotions by cannoning it inches over the crossbar, after Držislav Žonja found him with a finely-weighted bender.
Vedranovi could not sustain their impetus, though, and Dvorak's class would tell a few minutes later, when confronted with a tentative chip from midfield. Taking Nurija Memija out with a single shake of his shoulder, Dvorak then buried it on the pivot.
Rashid bin Ahmad was next to have a go, after Isufi beat all comers down the left, but smashed it into the side-netting after being closed down.
The hosts got ahold of themselves for the remainder of the half, which was bogged down in petty tit-for-tat fouls. Albinko Kadić and
Rinor Isufi somehow got entangled in a running feud despite being stationed at opposite ends of the pitch, and they would be carded in succession as Guillemaud strove to keep it under control.
Pompeo Bellamoli entered for the second half in place of
Leong Wan Kang, and Grilled shifted right into top gear for once. Switching to a more expansive style,
Rinor Isufi and
Clark Won upped their involvement by a fair amount, and Won would streak inside in the 57th to slide home a hashed clearance from the defensive line.
Won would be the fourth booking of the day after a spat with Iranian Vahid Haji Shamsaei, but that didn't detract from the main thrust of the game; 74 minutes in, Won would whip in a fierce cross that bounced kindly for
Rinor Isufi as he ghosted in from the other side, and Isufi left Noršić no chance with his clean contact.
And then, Vedranovi exploded. It was almost as if somebody had thrown a switch, and Grilled were completely left behind in the mad rush. It was all
Krystian Rykowski could do to bat an incoming strike wide, but he was then left stranded on the ground as Ricardo Leoncio Murias immediately hooked it back into the six-yard box, where Rufino Bamio was waiting.
There would be another scarce two minutes later, with Aziz Karanović following up as a second wave on Shamsaei's tantalizing low cross, and a draw didn't seen quite so out of reach any longer.
Hilal Bakhtiar for one was totally at sea, and the Birds were definitely vulnerable to continued pressure at that moment.
Moey Xin Seng exhibited his nascent leadership potential by seizing the game by the scruff of its neck then, and proceeded to sap Vedranovi's momentum with safe, time-consuming dribbles. It was very well handled by the youngster, and Dvorak shortly after cemented the about-turn with a cheeky goal incorporating a pullback fake.
Vedranovi's final hopes then went up in smoke when Kadić got himself a second yellow for hacking away at
Rashid bin Ahmad towards a lost cause, and Grilled played keep-ball without further issue until the final whistle.
