Archimonde Wizardry
Ze Åhsten
Grilled attracted a crowd of over six thousand in Istanbul, Turkey as they took on Archimonde on their home turf.
Shen Kek-Tjiang's early goal portented a good start to the new season for Grilled, as he drove
Peter Åhsten's weighted pass past a crowd of defenders onto the inside of the right post. It was all going well, when
Daniel Tellskär assaulted Ðslam Dilsoy after the defender had brought him down clumsily but legally. That brought a series of catcalls from the passionate home crowd, and the referee had no compunctions about sending the Swedish midfielder off even at this early stage. Grilled lost their presence in midfield, and
Ricard Machado, never a prolific defensive player, was of no help as he stood and watched Miguel Ángel Corrado sidestep him. The Argentinean forward then evaded Tuan-Mu and Seng-Huat before sending Huel-sheng the wrong way with a tip of his boots. Archimonde went on a period of heavy offence, interrupted only by
Li Ze's firing a blank from the side of the penalty area. No breakthrough was made, and Seng-Huat was gifted a golden chance when a wayward pass was missed by two players and reached him. He spent a few seconds lining up his shot, and goalie Haþim Eriz got enough time to get across goal and save.
Hobson and Attimarad were effective in the second half as their non-stop running piled pressure on the Archimonde back three. Attimarad should have put it in when Hobson knocked down a high ball for him, but even unguarded he tried to be too elaborate and ended up with a soft shot right at Eriz. Archimonde bided their time and teased Grilled's players with passing games, and struck home through Murâd Tek in the 69th minute as he lost Seng-Huat behind him.
Tim Hobson was a foot away from getting a clean run onto goal, but Archimonde's captain Say reached the ball first and Hobson true to his nature got hold of his pants, a blatant foul that merited a carding. Being underhanded for seventy minutes, Grilled's core collapsed as they first let in speedy Spanish winger José Ramon de Tena, who outpaced all and sundry on the flanks and played a direct pass to Corrado who had his shot ready. From the restart, Tuan-Mu was confronted by two attackers and Tek got through, firing a chest-high shot into the middle of the goal. It was fast becoming a game of individual skill as
Peter Åhsten wriggled past Turkish defender Nurcan Gökdað on the inside, then took his shot a bit early but got the job done, giving Grilled a consolation goal.
