Reo Coked
Firdaus Crocked
Grilled emerged victorious from their second trip east to Changi in as many weeks, as Division Four high-fliers Team Reo were left to rue a Cup knockout, coming just days after they lost their 17-match winning streak in all competitions to league rivals Couchbunny.
The Grilled selection didn't seem to take the shock departure of Benny Josefsson too well, as there were several mislaid passes in the first few minutes, but they recovered quickly before the counterattacking Reo team could take advantage. The hosts might have regretted playing so cautiously when Penati made an extremely ill-advised pass straight to lone striker Khairil bin Wan Ahmad in the fifth minute, but Khairil had no support at all and did well to even force Valdir into a save.
Quah Han Kok managed to give Grilled a bit of margin for error when he flicked a timely pass by Chowdhury over 19 year-old Argentine goalie Desiderio Yañez, before Team Reo once again threatened with a fast break. Khairil got another look at goal, but he went overly much for accuracy and left Valdir to gather the ball up easily.
Maikel Rotteveel then committed a rather bad tackle on midfielder Choo Kok Sze, leading to a caution despite Rotteveel protesting that it was his very first foul of the day. It was probably fair, given that Choo had to be carried off, and will be out for about a month.
The nippy Romanian Rãzvan Mitrache replaced Choo, and did a good job in helping to shut the Grilled attack down for the rest of the half. Grilled opened up a lead soon into the second half, as Rotteveel showcased his other attributes after seeing his speed being severely hampered by the rain and subsequently heavy pitch.
A booming strike in the 48th minute by the Dutchman crept its way into the back of the net, as the wet ball slipped out of Yañez's grip.
Fabian Bona followed suit to make it 3-0, making it his second goal in as many Cup games, as the goalkeeper had terrible luck with a high bounce off a hard patch in the otherwise swampy penalty area.
Rotteveel then got his ninth career hat-trick with admirable placement on his shots, before Woon Siong Tian ended Firdaus' match early with an uncontrolled slide into the forward's ankles.
Ulf Hjortlind made up the numbers for the last twenty minutes, as Firdaus likely misses out on action for the next fortnight.