AirDragons Stood Off
Captain Sets Example
Qassem Madaini's taste for goals developed further as he dragged the club into the knockout stages of the 300 Hatstats+ tournament, adding a brace to his hat-trick a fortnight ago to ensure that Grilled finished atop Group A.
The AirDragons knew what they had to do - win - and their 3-5-2 operated in the Birds' faces from the get-go, with Portugeuse forward Lourenço Fernando Domingos Sousa a bundle of energy as he flitted between the centrebacks. The AirDragon's strikeforce was well known for its whimsical moods, and Grilled were nearly taken back in the 13th minute when Swedish right winger Yiorgos Vrochopoulos had his cross deflected barely past the post by Sousa.
It was Grilled who took the lead quite unexpectedly, as the mercurial
Chow Ying Lee once again dashed through the defence without support, though some credit has to be given to
Tian Yonghang for spotting the move. Sousa equalized almost immediately after, however, as he made no mistake from another Vrochopoulos delivery with a tidy volley.
The match began to settle as the AirDragons' early enthusiasm waned, but they were able to parlay it into the initiative in the 32nd minute as Sousa tricked his way past both bin Jantan and Jungui with a smooth piece of dribbling. There was still Stacey left to beat, but the red-hot striker would take him out of the equation with a scorching strike to the far top corner from outside the box, to fervent cheering from the crowd.
It seemed grim for the Birds, who had produced virtually nothing of note, but they would be lifted through individual valour let again. Madaini, who memorably bent in a free-kick to complete his first hat-trick recently, did it again with a beauty that skimmed the top of the jumping wall and dropped beneath Tiago Vale's reach.
Whatever Madaini has been eating, Grilled's strikers must be clamouring for some of it, seeing as how natural he looked in turning in
Shiya Shaahee's low cross in the 58th minute. However, Sameul Lepik came in forcefully to level once more in the 66th, and Stanca found it necessary to pull an improving but spent Shaahee out for tactical reasons.
Paolo Iten offered a more rounded alternative, and immediately began to track men down as Grilled sought to protect the result. A draw would not be sufficient for the opponents however with their goal difference, and coach Caspar Bernard tried rolling the dice by having the talented but unreliable Edvard Villmones on for target man Dumitru Popescu.
That didn't provide the spark that the AirDragons needed as Villmones took his time adapting, and Grilled were in little trouble from then on, with
Lin Jungui nearly stealing victory in the 83rd minute with a snappy shot that the unsighted Vale instinctively blocked as it arrived.
