Jurong Warning
Birds Remain Vulnerable
Niculae Stanca's grand plans were shaken as Grilled's longstanding issues in defence were once more exposed, this time by Division Three challengers Jurong FC, who went two up before being pegged back. Defenders
Ling Fuquan and
Qassem Madaini did soften the blow by scoring, the former on his debut, but they might do well to remember their top priority.
It wasn't exactly a distressing result against a strong Jurong side led by Frenchman Arthur Gourichon from the front, but it could have been so much more had Madaini converted an unexpected second-minute penalty, awarded after transfer-listed opposing captain Ang Fu Kok hauled
Chow Ying Lee down by reflex. Rodrigo Filippin dove the right way, which might have caused Madaini to overcompensate and put it past the post.
Jurong FC came out in a 5-3-2 with heavy support from the front, and were seemingly content to simply frustrate Grilled before slipping in on the break. One of them ended with
Dexter Stacey having to push a banger from Gourichon over the bar, which led to tall German wingback Georg Eresch capitalising from the corner.
Grilled's tactic of adding an extra man in the back didn't help much with
Ling Fuquan not yet clicking with his new teammates, though it was
Lin Jungui who ended up at fault for Jurong's second - he backed off from Wojciech Rojowski who was driving down the right flank, all it was all too simple for the Pole to pick out Liao Chenxi in the box.
The Birds looked woefully out of ideas, and it was up to Ling to bail them out. Inept at times at rightback, the returnee nevertheless was very useful whenever he got forward, and he got his Grilled career off to a start worthy of a striker. Ling certainly was the picture of one when he accelerated right into the heart of the Jurong defence, where he was found by
Zhu Changchun's incredible pass.
The celebrations were short-lived, though, as Jurong FC restored their lead within the minute, off another dead ball situation. The defenders might have blamed it on the strong wings, but the fact of the matter was that nobody was even close to Rouven Gaiser when the free-kick filtered through to him.
There seemed little hope for the Birds to work their way back in, as Jurong FC clammed up happily enough, and actually improved through the early exchanges of the second half. They did show some chinks, though, with Ang especially prone to slipping, even after a change of studs.
It was down to current form player
lu Zunwen to stage a rescue, which he duly did with a gritty trundle direct into the penalty area, all the while holding his marker at bay. This signalled a shift in fortune, which peaked when a stray ricochet bounced glaringly off a defender's arm soon after. Madaini would make no mistake this time, sending Filippin the wrong way to tie the score at three-all.
Grilled pushed on in search of a probably undeserved winner, ultimately in vain with
Tian Yonghang proving indecisive in their best remaining attacking opportunity.
Seytek Djekshenkulov then let his side down again with a completely senseless studs-up tackle in the final minute, for which he was somehow not sent off by referee Mullinti Ranga.
