ZDZA Rap On
Allan All Out
The Birds were outplayed 6-3 in Cape Town, as two-time South African Sapphire Challenger Cup holders ZDZA Rabber exploited their accustomed 5-3-2 to its fullest potential. Austrian club icon Gerhard Karner skippered Rabber, and more than made up for 42 year-old Balázs Guttmann's relative immobility in this friendly test.
Their best on the day was however right winger Allan Greatbatch, capped thrice for the national side, and who wasted no time in making
Gilbert Webb look ordinary; Grilled's new Scottish sensation was no slouch himself, but he was left tackling shadows in the third minute, as Greatbatch passed him to lob
Krystian Rykowski with mesmerizing ease.
Rykowski certainly should shoulder a fair share of the blame for Grilled falling behind so easily, seldom looking assured when the opponents approached anywhere near his penalty area.
Yuki Irie did what he could, and Rykowski ought to have had Stephen Martinez's off-balance drive covered in the 20th. He inexplicably let it bobble over his foot, instead.
It was three about ten minutes later, Carlos Fernández cutting in from the other wing to score. The Birds wouldn't let the game just run away from them in such a manner, and they would finally be able to commit enough men on their 33rd minute corner.
Yuki Irie could only get the barest of touches with Luka Paunović breathing down his neck, but that was sufficient to allow
Vikram Mudaliar an in.
Mudaliar was perhaps the Grilled forward who gave Rabber the most headaches with his constant changes of direction, and this nearly led to
Bilal Mohammad Harun finding the net, three minutes from half-time. Felix Weisshaupt leapt into action with a brilliant fingertip save, however, and
Chu Xin Lee would have to replace Mudaliar, given that the latter had twisted his back in setting that up.
More changes were forthcoming for the Birds, though not necessarily for the better, and Yuki and Hoàng came off for
Rashid bin Ahmad and
Jérémy Tarin. Rabber didn't start the second half unchanged either, with Artur Bołoz in goal instead of Weisshaupt. Additionally, Ndumiso Moloi took over in central midfield, with Caffrey understandably looking somewhat spent.
Grilled's time on the ball would begin to tell, as they learnt to play around Moloi, and only a pinpoint step-in from Florin Hordoan kept
Kalki Parvathaneni from going clear in the 57th minute. That did not take away from the Birds' assurance, and Moey could well have equalized shortly after his 3-2 strike, had Artur Bołoz not made a splendid reaction save belying his age.
That was the opening that the hosts had been awaiting, and Carlos Fernández had the whole left flank for his taking, with the Birds having pressed too far in their search.
Jérémy Tarin might have slowed Greatbatch down, but it was for naught in the end, as he slipped it ever-so-smoothly between
Krystian Rykowski's legs.
Grilled's sense of superiority shattered, they were then taken apart for a second time, with Ndumiso Moloi running at a disorganized Birds defence successfully. It was all Grilled could do to throw themselves a lifeline, and
Bilal Mohammad Harun's 77th minute goal was as much luck as anything, having taken a strong deflection off a Rabber player - not that the Birds could afford to mind.
It wasn't nearly enough, and Rabber would take over for the last ten minutes, as Grilled's stamina waned. Rykowski would manage a laudable block against Stephen Martinez's thirty-yarder, but he wouldn't get a hand on Martinez's next try, after the Rabber attack reconvened from another angle.
