Veles Verve
Counter Practice
The Birds would get extra training at breaking down low blocks against Macedonian III.14 visitors FC Veles, eventually falling 3-4 to their exceptionally well-crafted counters. Given that FC Veles had not let in a single goal in their run from the quarterfinals to victory in the Macedonian Consolation Cup earlier in the season, though, getting three past Oliver Ognjanovski could be counted as something to be proud of.
Refounded several times, FC Veles' latest incarnation would be their first to attain a national trophy, though this did affect their league campaign in which they finished seven points behind eventual champions, Balkan Eagles. French player-manager Paul Lechat had crafted a side finely-tuned to playing out of defense, alongside being composed of interchangeable parts. Today, Borislav Karadzovski would be briefed to overload the left with former Macedonian youth international winger Pere Simonoski, with strong fullback support by Argjend Bojaxhiu and Hristo Kikerovski. It would be a trainee midfield stitching it all together, however, with Sali Shkrela for example starting only his second senior match.
The early going did indeed favour Grilled overwhelmingly, and FC Veles were perhaps slightly lucky to emerge from the initial barrage just a single goal down. Welsh forward
Joe Reece was out to address concerns about his inconsistency through the regular season, which expressed itself first as a stunning left-footed cannonball in the fifth minute that rocked the bar, before a beautiful nod-on from a corner, that went right to its intended target -
Damian Hutter at the corner of the six-yard box. Hutter sized up the situation, and drove it hard at the far corner - and in.
FC Veles would find their feet after that with Ognjanovski commanding his box well, with Reece often doubled up on by their four-man backline. The goalkeeper was excellent at his main job too, from how he parried
Phua Ming Xin's 18th minute effort well away from goal. Not only that, it dropped perfectly for Bojaxhiu to start a rush up the left, and mere seconds later, Pere Simonoski would dart inside
Radovan Jaška at the precise moment to tap Bojaxhiu's cross home for 1-1.
That wasn't the end of Jaška's tribulations for the day, as the Czech utility man looked way out of his depth at times. Such was it in the 30th minute, when he tried to dribble his way out of trouble in the central circle, only to be stripped of the ball and have Mitre Stojkov put FC Veles ahead. He would be less culpable for the visitors' 48th minute strike, being outnumbered as they attacked in numbers following
Mohd Marzuki Khairul skying it at the other end.
Tian Yonghang had no interest in switching his personnel up, although in fairness Grilled didn't have much trouble in creating chances throughout. The problem was converting them, and that was where FC Veles' willingness to pack the box tripped the Birds up.
Lim An Keng had a good go of it in the 57th minute after some crisp one-touch passing in tight spaces, but Oliver Ognjanovski seemed to get a fingertip to Lim's lob - with no corner given.
Damian Hutter then raked it across goal in the 66th minute, which once again turned into a successful breakaway up the left, polished off this time by Mic Derveni for 4-1.
Dimitris Germanakos gave his defence an earful at that, though they could probably not have been expected to have covered Derveni then. Just as well that this game was merely a friendly, then, as the Birds sought to rebuild from the basics. This did actually serve them well, with
Federico Parada heading one home from a deep cross 77 minutes in, perhaps helped by getting some support from Metodi Karadzovski. Finally, after a triple substitution in the final minute,
Radovan Jaška got some closure for a bad day with a well-executed orthodox penalty conversion low and hard to Ognjanovski's right corner.
