Kungfu 3 - 4 Grilled
It had rained all day, but 17587 hardy fans still made it out to
Love Street Stadium.
Dave Zadelhof was the appointed referee with assistance provided by
Artemio 'Bosco' Boschetti and
Zorayr Zadikyants. While a boggy pitch like this was an advantage for physical players, it really didn't help those who relied on speed or technique. The match took place on neutral ground. Kungfu's lineup was:
Milliard -
Haller,
Sender,
Nikolov,
Pin Liang,
Kelawi -
Chan,
Aik Hao -
Crescentini,
Meng Tse,
Pappila.
Grilled's starters:
Law -
Keng Chuan,
其材 (Qicai) -
Reddy,
Thach,
Chitre,
An Keng,
Trindade -
Teck Fu,
Kwang Tse,
Khairul.
The teams had chosen different formations for the match. Home team Kungfu 11 went for 5-2-3 while Grilled Birds has decided to play a 2-5-3 lineup. Kungfu were relying on their magical (18) ability to counter-attack. Grilled mostly ignored the flanks in favour of their ability to attack in the middle, taking advantage of their divine (+10) (30) level with that tactic. As the 1 minute mark approached, the Kungfu coach decided it was time for a substitution.
Nameer Kelawi reluctantly made way for
Lucian Penciulescu on the pitch. With 2 minutes played, the visitors broke through on the right after some poor defending.
Mohd Marzuki Khairul put the ball away for 0 - 1. After 8 minutes of play,
Augustus Chan equalised for Kungfu after an elegant attack from the right.
Didi Milliard looked great 33 minutes into the match after stopping a shot from the middle of the penalty area from the visitors'
Chia Kwang Tse.
Chua Meng Tse showed why he is feared on the counterattack, breaking through in the middle and scoring for Kungfu after 34 minutes to make the score 2 - 1. Grilled were determined to attack in the middle, even their wing attacks ended up centrally. Grilled had a chance to level the scores as
Gandhik Chitre suddenly found himself free in the middle of the box with only the keeper to beat, but he misjudged the finish, and only managed to hit the bar. Grilled players heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their wing attacks to the middle instead. With 37 minutes played, the visitors could have drawn level after
Chia Kwang Tse came through the middle, but his shot went wide. 2 - 1 was the score after the first half. Grilled enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 61 percent of possession.
Grilled had a good opportunity to attack on the wing, but remembered their instructions to go for middle attacks. Grilled tied it all up, 56 minutes in, after a spectacular goal by
Chia Kwang Tse, who miraculously broke through the home side's central defence, making it 2 - 2. After some beautiful movement down the left wing,
Lucian Penciulescu scored for Kungfu putting them ahead 3 - 2, after 62 minutes. The visiting team's
Hwang Teck Fu was able to score the 3 - 3 equaliser with a header 77 minutes into the match, after some good work on the right.
Heng Pin Liang of Kungfu was booked for kicking the ball away after the whistle. After 83 minutes, Grilled's
Paulino Trindade made his way through the middle and nonchalantly placed the ball out of the keeper's reach, putting the visitors up 3 - 4. The coach of Grilled was happy with the game so far, but still wanted to change the line up. After 89 minutes,
冬馬 (Toma) 田宮 (Tamiya) came on for
Paulino Trindade.
Aw Keng Chuan left the field with a smile on his face as he was substituted 89 minutes into the game, as his team was in the lead.
Damian Hutter was the replacement. As
Aw Keng Chuan left the field, the coach signaled to
冬馬 (Toma) 田宮 (Tamiya) to be the new set pieces taker.
Cameron Law would have preferred to play on, but his coach decided otherwise.
Dimitris Germanakos entered the game for Grilled as the match clock showed 89 minutes. It was announced by the referee that he estimated stoppage time to be around 3 minutes. This meant there could still be an extra attack or two left in the match! The match ends 3 - 4. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Grilled, with 61 percent of the ball.
Kungfu's top performer was clearly
Fung Aik Hao.
Heng Pin Liang turned in a dismal performance, however.
Chia Kwang Tse performed admirably for Grilled. On the other hand,
冬馬 (Toma) 田宮 (Tamiya)'s play was disheartening.