Bunnies 0 - 2 Grilled
The weather was pretty good, and a crowd of 2370 had shown up at
Carrot Field for the match.
Călin-Marius Hociotă was the appointed referee with assistance provided by
Kazimierz Korona and
Ethan Russell. Bunnies's lineup was:
Sorondo -
Tambusai,
Zaripbekov,
Patel,
Agyei,
康方 (Kangfang) -
Tallapaka,
Camperio,
Văn Chương -
Al-Nameeri,
Efendiev.
Grilled fielded:
Vadalà -
Webb,
Panigrahi -
Xin Lee,
Kamel,
Mohammad Harun,
Mazhud,
Dong Chu -
Ze Han,
Jaška,
Xin Seng.
Farmer Bunnies fielded a 5-3-2 lineup. For Grilled Birds, the formation of choice was 2-5-3. Bunnies were relying on their magical (18) ability to counter-attack.
Abd Hadi Taib Mazhud came close to putting the visiting team one up 32 minutes into the match, following a solo raid down the middle, but
Gilberto Sorondo managed to tip the ball to a corner. Bunnies's defence sent a ball soaring up the middle on a beautiful counterattack with 36 minutes gone, but
Vitaliy Efendiev's finish was met by the reaching hands of the keeper. A free kick aimed at the keeper's far post almost gave Grilled the lead 39 minutes in, but the ball just wasn't able to squirm its way through the defensive wall. With the clock showing 40 minutes played, a great pass from the defensive line of Bunnies resulted in a counterattack that was smoothly brought under control by
Vishnu Tallapaka in the centre of the opposition's penalty area, but his finish went high. The teams went for the halftime break at 0 - 0. Grilled claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 77 percent.
Vishnu Tallapaka would have preferred to play on, but his coach decided otherwise.
Tham Leng Teck entered the game for Bunnies as the match clock showed 46 minutes. As
Vishnu Tallapaka exited the field,
Vitaliy Efendiev volunteered to be the new set pieces taker. As the captain was no longer on the pitch,
Tham Leng Teck took over the role of being the Bunnies captain. After 46 minutes, the Bunnies coach wanted to see a new face on the pitch, waving
Nguyễn Văn Chương off the field.
Kwek Yun Jie took his place.
Gilberto Sorondo looked great 60 minutes into the match after stopping a shot from the middle of the penalty area from the visitors'
Bhavya Panigrahi. Good work by the Bunnies defensive line after 61 minutes produced a good counterattack chance, which cut elegantly down the middle of the pitch and found
Mushtag Al-Nameeri alone in front of the goal, but his shot whistled just wide. A mistake by the home side's central defence after 66 minutes allowed
Chan Ze Han to score for Grilled. The scoreboard now read 0 - 1. The corner kick from
Bhavya Panigrahi was powerfully met by the head of
Salah Kamel to make the score 0 - 2. After 69 minutes, the defensive line of Bunnies created a counterattack through the middle that gave
Vitaliy Efendiev a good look at the goal, but his shot glanced harmlessly off the crossbar. 75 minutes into the match, the referee signalled for a Bunnies substitution.
Llamil Vener came on for
Billy Camperio. As the 88 minute mark approached, the Grilled coach decided it was time for a substitution.
Bilal Mohammad Harun reluctantly made way for
Teo Chuan Yong on the pitch. 88 minutes into the game, Grilled wanted to bring some new energy to their game.
Moey Xin Seng gave
Vikram Mudaliar a quick hug as he left the field.
Chan Ze Han was the new captain of Grilled - handed the armband by the departing player.
Chu Xin Lee would have preferred to play on, but his coach decided otherwise.
Atang Mangoye entered the game for Grilled as the match clock showed 89 minutes. The match ends 0 - 2. Grilled had most of the ball, with 80 percent of possession.
Richard Agyei performed admirably for Bunnies.
Kwek Yun Jie on the other hand, had a terrible day. Most important Grilled player was
Chan Ze Han.
Radovan Jaška turned in a dismal performance, however.