Tak Boleh
Safri's Say
It has been a bad week all in all for Ang Mo Kio-based Division Three side Tak United, as the 0-2 league loss against Real Balmoral that marked the end of their seven match winning run, was followed by a Ruby Challenger Cup knockout at the hands of the Birds. Danish head coach Kai Balle, known more for his developmental know-how, was clearly gunning for penalties with his two banks of five.
The game would begin with a huge hullabaloo, as the fourth official strode up immediately after kick-off, with an order for
Woon Shun An to come off for reserve goalie
Krystian Rykowski. Coach in-charge Luis Alcántara had no idea what was happening, and a completely bemused Woon jogged to the sidelines. A brief, heated discussion followed, and the conclusion seemed that the substitution had to go through, one way or another.
Rykowski, no less surprised, was however not particularly averse to trying his hand in midfield, but his little adventure ended not long after it began. His inexperience in the outfield showed, as he made no effort to evade Thijs Hellema's sliding tackle, which the Dutchman was probably expecting. This made it a yellow for Hellema, while the more appropriate
Nicola Vandeneynde took it over from there.
Having navigated the first fifteen minutes relatively unscathed, Balle pointed Alessandro Dalpasso to act as a target man, which however coincided with
Wong Ping Shun breaking free on the right and creating
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim's first goal. Dalpasso was promptly starved of service, and had not yet touched the ball when Mohd Safri made it two in the 23rd minute.
After a lazy body check by Wong got him booked, Balle decided to go for it, and Tak United shifted to a 5-3-2 with the other winger, Rene Taskin, joining Dalpasso... which immediately resulted in
Chow Ying Lee increasing the lead. To top it off, Taskin would then be stretchered off after pulling a hamstring trying to win the ball, which was the story of Tak United's day thus far.
Still, Tak United would get something to remember the occasion by, as Finnish newcomer Heikki Karuaho badgered
Ling Fuquan into conceding a corner kick, that Hernán Jorge Whitaker duly headed in from. This was however followed within the minute by Mohd Safri's hat-trick goal, a delightful half-volley, which would be the eleventh of his career.
Balle continued pushing players up as the game continued, which made little difference in the overall picture as Grilled kept a firm hold on the all-important midfield. Alcántara felt confident enough to have
Leong Wan Kang on for Chow at half-time, and
Wong Ping Shun would soon get on the scoresheet with a tricky free-kick that bounced high to fool Eustáquio Silva Godói in the Tak United goal.
Wong would get a second for himself in the 70th minute, steaming his way down the centre, and the seventh and last was claimed by Mohd Safri in the 75th, with could partially be attributed to a lucky deflection as American centreback Mitch Jaffee sought to block it.
