Herron Sweep
Hidde Hurt
Grilled's dim hopes of overcoming mighty Herron on their home ground went up in smoke when key winger
Hidde van Liere left the pitch with a bruised shin in the first half. Although his replacement
Allan Ødegaard managed to pull one back, it turned out to be token resistance as Herron added two more en route to a comfortable 4-1 victory.
Having failed to take any points off Herron last week at The Cooking Pot, Grilled eschewed any pretensions at bringing the game to the hosts, instead employing a patient wait-and-see strategy. The first casualty of the game was the famous Singaporean midfielder Nie Yong-chul, who was caught in Paullin's follow-through on a clearance. Brazillian Odilon Machadinha, who already has made his Masters debut, came in for Nie.
Herron then delivered a double blow in the 35th minute, with Ashton first springing Grilled's offside trap to send a flier over Sulaiman's head, before a mixup at the kickoff led to Chen Haupai effortlessly overlapping on the right, before sending in a short cross that Westerhof met in midair. The groundbound header was palmed by Sulaiman, but not hard enough as it trickled over the line.
Already smarting from the goals, Grilled were dealt another punch when Anders Eriksson brought down van Liere from behind as the Dutchman lost his marker with an elegant turn. With Martinsson still on the operating table, this removed Grilled's other major attacking spark, leaving Simon to dutifully play the target man with little creativity on support.
Westerhof tested Sulaiman with a swerving drive as the half entered its final minutes, and Fredgård was forced to take Jähnisch with a blatant push to stop him from getting to the ball first. Perhaps mindful of the light punishment dealt to Eriksson earlier, the referee hesistated before flashing the yellow card, making two wrongs a right.
The free-kick was wasted, and on the last attack of the half, Ødegaard had the honour of scoring his first professional goal against probably the most famous team in Singapore. It was a twisting run worthy of van Liere himself, with Ødegaard's freshness probably gaining him that vital extra yard as he left Ulfsson behind before coolly flicking the ball past ex-national keeper Abd Rauf Mohd Nadzir.
While that was the best finish to the half Grilled could hope for, the sad fact remained that their attacking staff was depleted, and Grilled resorted to inviting the hosts to come at them in the hope of a counterattack. Herron kept their play, tight, though, and Grilled made no breakthroughs.
Ulfsson and Machadinha both had shots strike the woodwork, as Grilled didn't manage to plug all the gaps. When Haupai sent a dangerous free-kick over the bar, the more optimistic Grilled fans might have hoped to steal a point, but in the 78th minute Zandberg finally unlocked the defence with a through pass, and Jähnisch made it 3-1. Haupai then blasted a hot free-kick directly in to seal the game.
