Modranka Mesh
Lee Gees Up
Marcus Liehner oversaw some more docile tactics against Slovakia's K Modranka, and was duly rewarded when his players, now sure of themselves, prevailed 1-3 after going behind.
Perfect weather in the Central European state saw nearly 5500 turn up for the friendly, for which K Modranka's respected coach Tommy Metin took as an opportunity to drill his men into a defensive 5-4-1. While Grilled kept the ball easily, attacking was akin to banging their heads against a brick wall.
Lacking the finesse to elegantly dismantle the packed backline, Grilled trainee
Lee Jie Siong attempted an ill-advised chip into the heart of the penalty area, which was promptly cleared to the front. Speedy Danish winger Niels Klougart chased that one down, only to have his strike batted away by Bao-Tam.
Klougart made another positive contribution soon enough, as he flummoxed Liehner before nicking in a pinpoint low cross to Marko Müler in the six-yard box. Tuan-Mu let it between his legs, and Müler had plenty of room for error as he rather crudely hammered it into goal.
Hidde van Liere took it as his cue to turn on the style, and soon Grilled's right wing was a buzz of activity as the Dutchman ran rings about slower opponents. Slowly forced back out to the flanks, van Liere then hit a blind pass that Jie Siong caught with his toes, and sent past Australian goalie Keiran Matthews to make it all square.
Klougart's yellow card in the next minute saw his drive noticeably diminished, and again van Liere took up the gauntlet with another dazzling run. His cutback went to Borup, who laid it off for Jie Siong, who went beyond expectations with a world-class take with his right foot that left Matthews looking helplessly.
van Liere quickly established himself as a favourite of the good-natured fans, who were delighted by his unbridled footwork. His diving header from Spirig's long lob was gasp-worthy, but this time Matthews was onto it, and pulled off a deserving save.
Young defender Martin Polách fell heavily on his back while trying to outjump
Tim Hobson, but thankfully did not sustain any damage to his spine, as originally feared. K Modranka were thus reduced to ten men, as the rest of their players were on official leave.
Grilled gamely pressed for a third, and it came through the boot of 17 year-old
Bukhari Abd Hamid, as the home team's defence had almost given up on trying to surpress the dancing van Liere. It was something of a certainty actually, with the crosses pouring in from the right wing.
Other than a caution for a reckless charge by Spanish sweeper Francisco Climenti on Hjortlind, there was to be no further incident, and Liehner will be happy to record his first win in charge of Grilled.
