Grabo strikes it hot in bad-tempered Masters match

Evergreen Yugoslav forward Anto Grabo was back at his best as he helped the Lorenz All Stars to victory in yesterday's Masters Cup final against arch-rivals the Philips All-Stars yesterday.

The former South China and Instant-Dict favourite has been a regular goalscorer in almost every competition he has entered in Hong Kong. And the 44-year-old local star played another instrumental part in his team's success as Lorenz's magnificent seven thrashed the Philips outfit 3-0.

Lorenz have not won the tournament since 2000. They have played second fiddle to their Philips counterparts during the past three editions of the tournament. But they finally came good on the day to regain the prestigious cup in a sometimes bad-tempered final.

The game got off to an explosive start when Lorenz's Jens Keller had his dipping shot tipped over the bar by former Liverpool goalkeeper Bob Bolder. Seconds after that close call, Philips's Kevin Ball and Lorenz's Uwe Bein almost came to blows after Ball fouled Bein near the sidelines.

The two players had to be separated by teammates and by the referee, but fortunately cool heads prevailed in the end as Lorenz continued to press forward against a determined Philips outfit.

Lorenz dominated the second half as Keller opened the scoring just one minute after the break with a superb strike outside the box. The former VfB Stuttgart forward blasted the ball into the top corner of the net to give Bolder no chance.

Bein then got on to the scoresheet as he shot Lorenz 2-0 in front with a goal four minutes later when he scored from the rebound after his initial shot was kept out by Bolder.

And it was Grabo's turn to play hero when the long-time Hong Kong resident made the result beyond doubt two minutes later, tapping home into an empty net after finding Robert Nikovic's right-wing cross at the far post.