Casilium Benchmark
Only Hobson
It was eight goals in three games for
Tim Hobson as the magical English lad conjured up a hat-trick to sink Casilium United. Grilled walked all over a side that they laboured to hold just half a season back, portending a meteoric rise ahead for the Western upstarts.
Casilium were first off the blocks however, and after winger Wong Jian-Xing made his way to the far post to knock a corner in, they looked a good bet to win at home.
Hang Bao-Tam might be blamed for it, as he vacillated while watching the hanging set-piece. Grilled were very strong on the right, with Dai-Lin and the on-form Seng-kar pushing up. After a couple of misfires,
Rafael García Sole swooped in with a hard header, scoring past Zi Thanh-Nhan.
On the twenty-second minute,
Tim Hobson bluffed Seah Rui with a change of pace, escaping cleanly to bury a masterful chip into the middle of goal. Casilium doomed themselves by going one man down as midfielder Li Lu-Shan hacked petulantly at
Ricard Machado as the Spaniard rounded him near the sidelines. Amidst the drama,
Ma Dai-Lin hit a fast free-kick to Hobson, who was flawless with his contact on the volley.
Young defender
Tan Ong learnt a hard lesson when he was carded for refusing to give up a throw-in. Casilium's leftback Ma Chinkiong made way for fresher legs, but replacement Ng Jae-Hoon was less than helpful as Hobson blindsided him with a darting run that Peter Magunsson provided for. Hobson was totally in the air when he tried for goal, and he just couldn't miss.
Hobson's ego rose to the fore as he delayed the restart by doing a lap of honour with his shirt over his face, and the referee could not tolerate the sloppy tackling from him that followed. Casilium battered down the hatches for the whole of the second half as Grilled's passes went astray, such that no further score was recorded.