Out On The Town
Ferzan Fire
Yorkshire two-time TomDHT Memorial Cup winners Croft Town hosted Grilled Birds for the first leg of a doubleheader this Tuesday night, and were put down by a standout showing by Turkish wide forward
Egemen Dinçer Ferzan. While Robin Carvell would eventually be set on him, this would barely slow Ferzan down, and it was only the clock that kept him from a hat-trick.
It was altogether another story for Czech veteran
Prokop Mottl on the left, though, as he had only himself to scrutinize for not getting on the scoresheet, despite the numerous chances thrown his way. The first of those arrived in but the second minute, with the measured lob that he put out actually perhaps his best attempt of the evening. It beat goalkeeper Steve Harper handily, but also whistled just over the crossbar.
That didn't worry Grilled too much as they soon seized control of midfield quite decisively, and the production line of shot-making would soon get rolling.
Teo Chuan Yong claimed a free-kick for himself in the tenth minute and bent it around the wall and home, with a second go after Robby Charles had felled
Mohd Marzuki Khairul from behind in the 16th. Teo misplaced his standing foot then, however, leading to a terrible take.
No problem as Ferzan announced himself formally after fullback Kieran Watts had unwisely attempted to play himself out of trouble with a pass across the backline two minutes later, with
Aw Keng Chuan sniffing out a similar mistake after 28 minutes, for 3-0. That would also be Watts' last participation in this game, as he hobbled off having taken a nasty blow to his left knee. Andy Lacy entered, and Croft Town stabilized the situation for awhile.
The second half saw Aw shifted wide right and
Hwang Teck Fu inside, with
Teo Chuan Yong also coming off for
José Luiz Velho. The Brazilian couldn't wait to be involved, having been fielded only sporadically after his injury against N.P.F.C. early last month, and looks to have recovered fully from how he nipped in to polish off Mottl's assist, six minutes after the restart.
Ferzan kept his great day going with a flourish of a volley in the 58th minute, and was very unlucky to have his shot deflected just wide at the last instant in the 77th; worse, referee Maksymilian Pisiak had missed Carlo Arth's admittedly slight touch, which meant that no corner was forthcoming. By then,
Radovan Jaška and
Mohsen El Khateeb had replaced Mangoye and Webb in defence, not that it mattered much given how the match was playing out.
Croft Town's pressing would pay more dividends as Grilled's seniors slowed, and Mottl would be the primary victim, as he got cheated out of several seemingly-golden opportunities towards the end. Harper did his bit with a stretch of a save with five minutes to go, and 21 year-old striker John Norman then ensured that the hosts had the last word, with his powerful dribble and strike in injury time.
