P&V Sandwiched
Brizuela Between
Recent Nicaraguan double winners Pataliebre & Vacahierro arrived at The Cooking Pot for this week's friendly exchange, and what was essentially a contest between the clubs' up-and-coming trainees would end 3-1 to the good for the Birds. The heavy pitch probably favoured Grilled more here, though, and P&V weren't too far away from a come-from-behind revival, before a late penalty call did them in.
Iconic former player-coach Bernardino Chávez, the sole survivor of the team that defeated current Primera División leaders Comandante Ernesto "Che" Guevara B in the Copa Nacional Rubén Darío four seasons ago, would captain the visitors at right forward; he isn't shy about throwing the kids into the deep end too, it seems, as he gave Guillermo Bárcena and Fernando Redondo debuts in the Hattrick Masters, despite the duo being but teenagers then. Now both just past twenty years old, Bárcena would serve as P&V's core in midfield, with the tough-tackling Redondo sweeping up in a 3-5-2.
Here, the similarities would continue to pile up, with
Chan Ze Han having very much the same status as Chávez for the Birds, whilst also being 34. On the whole, this appeared to be a very close match for both starting lineups, with Grilled perhaps edging it in goal, as
Dimitris Germanakos started after being rested over the weekend. And, it was indeed Hernán Rosado who had to work the harder - which didn't prevent a fired-up
Chad Thach scoring from some exquisite improvisation in the ninth minute. There seemed nowhere to go with Martin Zsivótzky and Hernán Nóbrega surrounding him just inside the box, but Thach somehow eluded them both with a swing of his left leg, that also placed the ball nicely for a finish with the other boot.
Rosado would have to stay on his toes for the next five minutes, and it could easily have been three or four, had he been at all negligent in his watch. The restart had
Paulino Trindade test him with a thunderous cannon from the left that needed some very steady hands, with
Yee Jian Hui then nearly dropping a cross onto Chan's head for a certain finish two minutes later.
Gandhik Chitre then scooped it over from six yards, and the suffocating pressure would only ease up after Yee's messy wipeout of Redondo in the 16th minute. The canny defender would take his time to recover, thus buying his mates time to reorganize.
The match would restart with the visitors on a much more even footing, and Chávez would reveal some of the magic that had seen him claim so many honours whilst leading his peers, both on the field and off. His 150th career goal should be here soon, from how he teased a far younger and more mobile
Aw Keng Chuan, though it was his passing vision that would be showcased in the 29th minute. Chávez appeared to have eyes on the back of his head when he left it for Alberto Brizuela then, and the 18 year-old youngster did not disappoint with a pinpoint drive past Germanakos, and into the far bottom corner.
Gandhik Chitre was the next to keep the mirroring going, as the Birds' own 18 year-old terror would answer in kind straightaway. Always more comfortable going for it himself, Chitre has had to work at repressing his goalbound instincts, but there would be no keeping his desires under lid in this instance. Spying a path between P&V's centrebacks, Chitre wormed his way through, and it was 2-1.
The next fifteen minutes to half time were uneventful, and the Birds would swop Thach out for
Mohd Marzuki Khairul to start the second half, despite the former's bright performance.
Atang Mangoye would also not return, with
Bilal Mohammad Harun on to get some minutes towards full match fitness. For this half, it was P&V who got off to a better start, and Martin Zsivótzky was inches from equalizing again, as he curled a great shot in from the right.
Chia Kwang Tse cleared on the goalline after a breakneck sliding interception, though, which earned him many grateful headpats from Germanakos and the rest.
Feliciano Mercado would be booked as he tried to keep Bilal from walking the ball behind after a poor first touch, but the visitors continued to put the work in, and came close several times. Dutch winger Henk Jan van Huut would have the game stopped for a few minutes midway through the second half, after a concerning-looking fall onto his back; it didn't turn out to be serious, fortunately, but this was enough for José Guadalupe Del Campo to take over for the day.
Rosado and Germanakos would suddently find themselves in the thick of the action again, beginning with Chia's early take upon bursting into the P&V box, which needed Rosado to scramble for the save. Newcomer Del Campo parlayed the return into a good cross at Chávez, but while the legend did well to get his forehead onto it, there simply wasn't enough power behind the header to beat Germanakos. Seconds later, it was at the other end again, with
Hwang Teck Fu forcing yet another reaction stop out of Rosado, who was on cloud nine afterwards.
P&V's resistance would only be broken from the spot, as Redondo was judged to have deflected a shot with his lower arm - a harsh verdict any which way it was looked at. After some discussion, Bilal yielded the duty to
José Luiz Velho, who put it high up the middle. Velho would then be booked for a bad tackle in trying to retrieve
Yee Jian Hui's mangled final pass, and
Paulino Trindade put in a credible lob in injury time, which brushed the top of the left upright.
