Devil Draw
Lukewarm Hobson
Grilled Birds opted for a shorter journey this time round, going only as far as Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to challenge Division Three DeViL_FC on their home ground. DeViL_FC played an adventurous 4-3-3, which led to an open game with many exciting moments but precious few goals.
Tim Hobson had his first chance ten minutes into the game, as Åhsten cut inside to sidefoot to him. The ball drifted harmlessly wide, though. It was DeViL_FC's turn in the 17th minute as their young forward Mohd Azmani bin Zain fed off a dipping cross from winger Ibrahim bin Husin, but he missed too. Hobson then whacked two free kicks in succession into the opponents' five-man defensive walls. Right winger Ibrahim bin Husin pulled something in his calf soon after, and was stretchered off to be replaced by Polish player Tomasz Grebowski. Despite a lot of DeViL_FC's passes straying into empty space due to players not being where they used to be, they still troubled Grilled's backline considerably, especially
Nor Suhaimi bin Che Lah, who has yet to find his footing after a long absence from competitive soccer. Mohd Azmani bin Zain shook free of
Lan Tuan-Mu long enough to fire a solid shot late in the half, but it ran across the face of goal.
Grilled had to depend on a controversial penalty decision to take the lead, as
Chen Chiew-Yen fell without much contact on the edge of the area. Ignoring protests, the man in black called for a spot kick which Hobson delivered with oomph. Mohd Azmani bin Zain restored some fairness to the scoreline as he proved third time lucky, barging past an uncertain
Nor Suhaimi bin Che Lah to score with a strong left-footer. Hobson was called to the penalty spot a second time when he headed the ball quite clearly into a defender's outstretched palm. This time, he missed to the right with DeViL_FC's keeper Gokul Vikesh already going the wrong way. DeViL_FC wingback Kau Ming-yuan, probably their best player for the night after striker bin Zain, then got carded for a rough tackle on
Tim Blissenbach. The German player had to limp off, for
Li Ze to come in. The teenage midfield of Siu-Yue, Kolesov and Ze then created a host of chances with the cheeky confidence of youth, but
Tim Hobson blew the pick of them all when he slid into a one-on-one with Vikesh only for the Indian keeper to somehow bat Hobson's stinger aside.
