The crowd of 34037 turning up at
Dracarys Arena today were greeted with some nasty showers of rain.
Ricardo Iloh was the appointed referee with assistance provided by
Ken Bonde and
Joel Wyremba. The pitch was a disaster, due to all the rain. This spelled problems for the more sophisticated players, who usually could rely on speed or technique. For those relying on grit and strength, it actually meant an edge.
Singapore fielded:
Tram -
Dang,
Mahdi,
Soukal,
Medic -
Kapuya,
Singh,
Mari,
Naik -
Walsh,
Yeng Hock.
The following players had been chosen by
Grilled:
Marcol -
Kwang Tse,
其材 (Qicai) -
Himadas,
Khairul,
長野 (Nagano),
Teck Fu,
Andrović -
Chitre,
Thach,
An Keng.
The teams had chosen different formations for the match. Home team
Singapore Red Dragons went for 4-4-2 while
Grilled Birds has decided to play a 2-5-3 lineup.
Grilled mostly ignored the flanks in favour of their ability to attack in the middle, taking advantage of their
divine (+4) level with that tactic. After 14 minutes,
Grilled's
Lim An Keng made his way through the middle and nonchalantly placed the ball out of the keeper's reach, putting the visitors up 0 - 1.
Grilled were determined to attack in the middle, even their wing attacks ended up centrally. After 15 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for
Mohd Marzuki Khairul who increased
Grilled's lead to 0 - 2.
元気 (Genki) 長野 (Nagano) made a nice dash down the wing after 16 minutes, but was unable to get the cross into the box. A goal kick was awarded. With 28 minutes played, a quick exchange of passes on the left wing freed
Lim An Keng of
Grilled to slip through the defence and score another goal for the visitors. That made the score 0 - 3.
Hwang Teck Fu was, after 29 minutes, almost able to extend the visitors' lead with a well placed diving header after the ball had looped into the centre, but the home side's keeper
Jalen Tram made the save. It was 0 - 3 at the break.
Grilled claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 66 percent.
60 minutes into the match, the referee signalled for a
Grilled substitution.
Damian Hutter came on for
Hwang Teck Fu. 64 minutes into the match, the visitors put themselves ahead 0 - 4 as
Chad Thach finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. It was obvious that team
Grilled had instructions to attack in the middle instead of on the wings. The visitors'
夏 (Ha) 其材 (Qicai) took advantage of a misunderstanding between the home side's goalie and centre backs 74 minutes into the match. 0 - 5 for
Grilled.
Lim An Keng of
Grilled took advantage of a mistake on the home side's right after 79 minutes which increased the away team's lead to 0 - 6. By then
Lim An Keng had scored three goals - a hat trick!
元気 (Genki) 長野 (Nagano) would have preferred to play on, but his coach decided otherwise.
Aw Keng Chuan entered the game for
Grilled as the match clock showed 80 minutes. A corner kick by
Raúl Himadas created great disorder in the penalty area. As pandemonium set in, and with a bit of luck,
Grilled's
Gandhik Chitre was able to shove the ball in to the back of the net as the ball landed in front of him. 0 - 7. The visitors nearly scored again after 84 minutes, but a superb save by
Jalen Tram kept
Raúl Himadas's free kick out of the net. With the scoreboard showing that 86 minutes had been played,
Grilled nearly put themselves up another goal after
Mohd Marzuki Khairul came through on the left. Fortunately for the home crowd, the keeper made the save. 87 minutes into the game,
Grilled's
Damian Hutter took a seemingly painful knock to his chest. However, he gritted his teeth and decided to play on. 89 minutes into the game,
Grilled wanted to bring some new energy to their game.
Darko 'Donnie' Andrović gave
Kendell El Khateeb a quick hug as he left the field. The referee decided to let play continue for an additional 3 minutes beyond the regular 90 minutes.
Singapore's
Raynald Kapuya managed a superb strike from the left after 90 minutes that would have left goalkeeper
Radomil Marcol without a chance, had it not hit the post. The match ends 0 - 7.
Grilled enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 63 percent of possession.
The most dominating
Singapore player was without a doubt
Parmeet Naik. Most important
Grilled player was
Lim An Keng.