Grilled 4 - 2 FSFC
It had rained all day, but 23290 hardy fans still made it out to
Love Street Stadium.
Isidre Baldoví was the appointed referee with assistance provided by
Emil Bäckroos and
Klaus Ringelman. For strong, physical players the heavy rain was easy to overcome, it was even an advantage given their style of play. Others, such as the quick or technical ones, made bleaker appearances. The match took place on neutral ground. Grilled's starters:
Germanakos -
Kang Leong,
其材 (Qicai) -
Reddy,
Thach,
Keng Chuan,
An Keng,
Trindade -
Chitre,
Kwang Tse,
Khairul.
FSFC's lineup was:
Pais -
Lim,
Sabat,
Lim,
Varela,
Bălţatu -
Limaye,
Couto Mello,
Limaye,
Beng Kian,
Limaye -.
Grilled Birds started the game in a 2-5-3 formation, whereas Featureship FC lined up in a 5-5-0 formation. Going for long shots seemed to be the pick of the day for FSFC, taking advantage of their utopian (19) level with that tactic. Slack defending gave Grilled a chance to take the lead with 17 minutes played, but
Hong Kang Leong's cross from the left flank was fumbled in front of the goal and easily dealt with by the opposition. Grilled took the lead 26 minutes into the game by 1 - 0, as
Mohd Marzuki Khairul elegantly received a long range pass through the middle, finishing off with a half-volley shot just below the bar.
Beniamin Bălţatu was unable to continue, following a slight injury to his right knee after 27 minutes. This gave
Frédéric Germain a chance to take to the field instead.
Mohd Marzuki Khairul increased the lead for Grilled to 2 - 0, getting a head onto a hooked ball from the right. The ball looked to have taken a deflection on the way in, but he's claiming it! FSFC came close to narrowing the gap when
Leong Beng Kian's free kick nearly made it past the outstretched hands of
Dimitris Germanakos after 31 minutes. Grilled's
Hong Kang Leong put in a disappointing effort on a penalty after 32 minutes, firing just wide of the goal. Despite hurting his right foot at the 36 minute mark,
Aw Keng Chuan decided to keep playing. 2 - 0 was the score after the first half. Grilled claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 55 percent.
After 60 minutes, FSFC switched
Bertrand Lim with
Juan Miguel Leyton, hoping for a quick impact on the pitch. After 64 minutes, a couple of quick and successful challenges followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area by
Brian 'Was Born' Reddy might have resulted in another goal for Grilled. However,
Luís Nuno Pais made a spectacular save. Grilled's
Chad Thach got himself booked for a foul.
Juan Miguel Leyton's speed is always a threat when he gets a little room to move, and 70 minutes into the match was no different as he broke free of his man to send a delightful through ball to
Balakrishnan Limaye who knocked it in for FSFC. 2 - 1! The score became 3 - 1 at 77 minutes into the game, when Grilled were given a penalty which
Hong Kang Leong blasted straight down the middle giving the keeper no chance! After 78 minutes FSFC showed some great patience outside the penalty area, waiting until
Leong Beng Kian could find the right opportunity to finish off the attack from distance. The long shot, however, was an easy catch for
Dimitris Germanakos. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave
Badrul Zaman Limaye from FSFC a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 79 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! After 82 minutes FSFC showed the crowd a glorious passing play which put
Leong Beng Kian in a perfect shooting position. His low hard shot was just as glorious, placed just inside the keeper's right post making it 3 - 2. Things were going to get worse for the visitors.
Gandhik Chitre squirmed through their central defence after 84 minutes, increasing the lead to 4 - 2.
Paulino Trindade wanted to play on, but the Grilled coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 89 minutes into the game by
Damian Hutter. The coach of Grilled was happy with the game so far, but still wanted to change the line up. After 89 minutes,
Hwang Teck Fu came on for
Gandhik Chitre. The players were tired, but when the referee announced that there would be 4 minutes of added time they, nonetheless, welcomed the extra opportunity to make an impact. The match ends 4 - 2. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Grilled, with 55 percent of the ball.
Grilled's top performer was clearly
Mohd Marzuki Khairul. On the other hand,
Dimitris Germanakos's play was disheartening. The most dominating FSFC player was without a doubt
Miltinho Couto Mello. However,
Luís Nuno Pais made a disastrous appearance.