Sosellah Served
Egan Display
Jordanian Al-Dawry Al-Momtaz club Al Sosellah would be gracious hosts, as they welcomed Grilled Birds with a modest starting lineup; 33 year-old Finnish midfielder Lauri Rautsiala and Faroese leftback skipper Djóni Tindalíð would be the highlights of what was essentially a reserve side, that duly got schooled.
Then again, the Birds were hardly at their full potential either, and their formation was set up to give
Heng Dong Chu a taste of directing the team from central midfield. It was
Bernie Egan who again shone brightest, though, and
Hovaness Noubaryan must now be asking himself as to whether the Irishman warrants serious consideration as a starting striker.
It wouldn't take long to figure out that this could get nasty, as Al Sosellah's chosen fumbled against Grilled's close press, and trainee Saad Braiji would lose
Neeraj Muthyala as he made two practised changes of direction in succession.
Prokop Mottl was evidently watching out for just that, and played Muthyala inside without missing a beat, for 1-0.
Grilled carried on plugging the ball into the opposition box, and
Bernie Egan would turn two of those crosses in by the half-hour. This was when the home fans got a pick-me-up, as Tindalíð snuck in behind a complacent Muthyala on the left touchline. This was by no means enough by itself, and Anan Yousif would be kept from reaching the cross by
Yuta Nakakita. Kedar Badran made it to the first bounce, however, and lashed a beaut past
Massoud Dob, to rapturous acclaim.
Prokop Mottl made it 4-1 on Grilled's next attack, lofting it over Makis Orfanos, who would then give a better account of himself against
José Luiz Velho's sliced volley. Half-time saw
Massoud Dob rested for
Dan Seng, and then
Bernie Egan complete his hat-trick with an absolute piledriver. Orfanos probably saw that coming, but he could hardly be faulted for not wanting to get in the way!
Al Sosellah were getting slightly more active, as the Birds started to lose their discipline in foraging, and Anan Yousif pulled off a sneaky toepoke in the 58th minute that
Dan Seng did well to deflect. The hosts continued battling, and after
Kalki Parvathaneni put Grilled up to six after a swift passing sequence through the middle, Kadir Ammouri impressed as he overran Grilled's entire left side on his own, to find a second goal for his team.
That was just reward for Al Sosellah's application, but Grilled remained somewhat better to say the least, and Kalki would trick his way inside once more in the 69th minute.
Yuta Nakakita, wearing the captain's armband for the day, then closed the scoring with a strong header, in a massed rush after the home team had lost possession in their build-up.
