Labbits Bow Out
Cuthbert Consolation
The visiting side spluttered at second gear, but got their share of the breaks and cruised past Serangoon Division Four labbityeo into the fifth round. Hot stuff
Ola Martinsson made it to seven straight scoring games with only four minutes showing on the clock, picking up a clearance from deep and lashing it in at the far post.
labbityeo's Ng Da Chee capped off the move of the evening by rotating in the air and crafting an astounding bicycle kick. Harlow had barely moved when the ball smacked off the upright, but he smothered it as attackers came running. Amidst dirty play that saw Ho Kum and Langeland cautioned, labbityeo midfielder Chew Hao Soon cut by the hesitant
Quah Han Kok and was halted just as he was lining up his shot by Bona.
Langeland peeled away from his markers after getting booked, and tucked a chip from a short distance down the middle of goal with one touch. Grilled were nowhere near comfortable with labbityeo egged on by their partisan 19000-strong crowd, and Rottman had to sacrifice a card in grabbing Chooi-Hua who was on a dangerous run.
The pendulum swung in the final minutes of the half as Langeland was a metre away with a decent mid-range effort, then German defender
Fabian Bona swung in from the right wing to drive a header down onto the line for the third goal. She In-Pom received the fourth yellow of a scrappy period.
Lan Tuan-Mu tied the fixture up soon after the restart as newcomer
Dragos Olaru finally announced himself with a classy sideheel flip across to his captain. Tuan-Mu just had to get the contact right, which he did. Harlow was in an ungenerous mood as he flew at a bobbing ball that Muhamad bin Che Rusli was first to, warding the stinging drive off to a throw-in.
The man Martinsson was hungry for goals, as evidenced by the way that he chased down an overhit pass that most forwards would have given up for dead. Alarmingly no-one gave chase, and Martinsson dribbled a while before swinging the ball around the stranded goalkeeper.
Local expatriate Steven Cuthbert punished Grilled's lax defence as Bona was caught out, and the fair-haired striker restored some cheer to the gloom as he expertly wriggled away from
Nui Pakpao and fired into the net. That was the extent of his heroics, though, for Grilled had it all wrapped up by then.
