Grilled Birds 4 - 0
Oh No
Oh No No No No!
Seasonend Four-ish
Grilled took to the field with a slightly unfamiliar lineup for their farewell to Gamma Stadium this season. In defence, local boy
Nor Suhaimi bin Che Lah, 19, made his competitive debut, having been promoted to the first team exactly a week ago, replacing Grilled's rock in defence thus far,
Lan Tuan-Mu, who was rested. At the other end, the suspended
Chen Chiew-Yen's place was taken by another academy product,
Rushanizam Yunos, also 19, making a rare start two months after joining the seniors. He got the nod ahead of longtime benchwarmer
Svarpati Attimarad, who sat among the reserves.
The midfield and goalkeeping departments were unchanged from the side which trounced Percosiara 4-0 last week. Yunos was clearly keen to make his mark, as he troubled Oh No with his darting runs from the start. His cheeky nutmeg in the 12th minute provoked Oh No's Chun-fai to a malicious tug from behind, which resulted in a yellow card for the holding midfielder. To add insult to injury, Yunos sold a dummy to the same player before splitting the Oh No defence for his opning goal.
Inspired by his colleague's enthusiasm, Hobson eked his competitiveness up a notch, getting into a altercation with the referee over the amount of time allocated for throw-ins, earning only a caution for his troubles. Hobson did gamble on a ranged shot in the 21st minute, but Wai-hu was ready for it.
Yunos' sharp turns soon resulted in a slight twist of his ankle in the 30th minute, but he recovered soon enough to embark on a new mazy dribble past Chonghao for his second goal, which he celebrated with aplomb. Hobson by contrast made a fudge of a chance presented to him on a platter, triggering disbelieving stares from both factions of the crowd. Yunos was no doubt the better forward this day.
It was the other youngster's turn in the second half as bin Che Lah happened to occupy the best position within a mess of players in the penalty box. To his delight, his looping header sailed into the bottom corner of the goal off the post. Truly, not too many defenders have the distinction of capping their debuts with a goal.
The show however was not over yet. If there was a nagging sense of incompleteness hanging over Grilled's play, they were dispelled by Hobson appropriately bagging his, and Grilled Birds', last goal of the season to let the curtains down on a amazing year. Twenty-two goals in fourteen games is surely a record that many strikers can only hope to achieve. Dai-Lin and Hobson then hit late shots against the bar, but both would admit that even though they failed to extend the lead the game represented a fitting finish for the club.