Dionys Flip
Portas Packs Punch
Swiss H.I. promotees FC Dionys Dolphins 04 outdid a lazy Birds reserve selection in the final friendly of the season, as none of them did much to convince watchers that they deserved a closer look for the coming campaign.
Islom Davlatov - and, at a stretch,
Prokop Mottl - were the only ones who came away with any credit at all, as their industry put Grilled into the lead twice, via top-class assists.
Having gone up by virtue of finishing third in a tough VI.410, Dolphins had been noted as a club with no outstanding strengths or stars, but no obvious flaws either. Greek coach Aias Papageorgiou had moulded a side characterised by pragmatic functionality, in which his players were expected to be hardworking and interchangeable, an attitude that swiftly rubbed off on their opponents.
It was difficult to decide who had the upper hand here, with Grilled's midfield edging possession despite some wasteful play. The opener would belong to them indisputably, though, after Czech teenager
Prokop Mottl dragged the ball across goal in the ninth minute, having convinced Loïc Altherr and company that a shot was forthcoming; Kerlon Silva Brito knew nothing about the ball getting lost between his feet, and
Christopher Mauget was more than happy to relieve him of it, for a simple tap-in.
This was about as good as it got for Grilled, as unforced errors riddled their passing game, spoiling most of their advances before they could develop properly.
Islom Davlatov had to sacrifice a booking to save opposing skipper Kelaja Mundy from breaking away in the 31st minute, but evidently no lessons had been learnt, with
Iman Eshrafi managing to hash a clearance backwards the very next minute. Claudio Portas, playing perhaps his last match as a professional, was waiting, and scooped it over
Dan Seng to equalise.
The Birds were soon back in front, as Davlatov danced around a couple of defenders before serving it up to
Dante Tran on a plate, but that was swiftly cancelled out. They remained utterly unconvincing on the ball as a whole, and after yet another soft giveaway in their own half, Kerlon Silva Brito scooted off to level for the Dolphins with a bouncing grounder.
Dionys would then go in front for the first time, with Altherr setting them off after snatching the ball up from
Jérémy Tarin's sudden breakthrough. Again, it was Portas who found the net, as player-coach Papageorgiou bought him space against
Gene Filippone with a questionable blocking-off of the defender at the right instant. The Grilled defenders would protest the slick maneuver to an unconcerned Bernd-Udo Bödör, but to no avail.
Young Italian midfielder Goffredo Donnini then bent a free-kick around the wall for a fourth, which was a bitter pill for the Birds to take, particularly as the wily Papageorgiou appeared to have gone to ground rather easily for that. Their response would be a double substitution for the second half, switching out the less-than-convincing Filippone and Tarin, for
Yuki Irie and
Hoàng Trung Quá.
This was by all indications a definite upgrade, as the Birds never quite seemed as vulnerable as before. Happily for the Grilled support, the probable first-choice defensive pairing for the coming campaign combined quite brilliantly, and Dolphins barely had a sniff for the rest of the match, thanks to their fine reading of situations.
That didn't mean that they were completely shut out, however, and Portas would come within a hair's breadth of a treble in the 67th minute. Steffen Anderwald kicked the opportunity off with a nifty interception, and Clément Pellan won the rushed lob, to knock it on for his striker.
Dan Seng was onto it this time, however, and warded the strike off at full stretch.
Grilled wouldn't have much better luck in advancing their own cause, on the other hand, and while
Islom Davlatov never stopped trying, he got perhaps far less of a chance than he deserved, thanks to the poor supply.
