Virtual Reality
Bluff Called
ViRtU FC achieved what most Division Two opposition could not and sent an unimaginative Grilled Birds crashing out of the Singapore Cup. Initially it looked to be another romp in the park as
Joe Stern scored for Grilled with thirty seconds on the clock, four passes from the kickoff. As the euphoria wore off, it became clear that the new-look midfield of
Aznan Noor Yadah,
Shen Kek-Tjiang and
Au-Yong Siu-Yue were playing below par, with Kek-Tjiang's refusal to support attacks not understandable. Stanton looked lost on the flank, and the team paid for it in the 18th minute when Swedish right winger Lennart Erin pushed up with aggressive midfielder Sun Nha-thao clearing the way for him. Dewilde put a foot in, but Erin sidestepped and put the ball into the top of the netting. ViRtU FC played their hearts out and were outdogging Grilled on their home turf. Maths Månsson calculated his probabilities perfectly when he elected to take the ball by himself, and again Grilled were caught short on their left flank as Stanton didn't even bother to track back, leaving Dewilde hopelessly exposed to Månsson's pace. Grilled stepped off at half-time 1-2 down, already with heads hung.
The second half looked no better as one of the willing performers, old warhorse
Ma Dai-Lin, chugged up and down with the mud limiting his choice of ball stunts. Never being much for speed, he was shut out by a paranoid ViRtU FC backline clearing every ball that they got.
Joe Stern and
Ulf Hjortlind never got the service they needed, and ViRtU FC almost ended the contest in the 66th minute when Månsson took a potshot which Bao-Tam did well to parry. Grilled never really tried to lift their heads in the rain, and ViRtU FC dispelled any notions that they were not the better team on the day via the boot of Wen Pu-Yang, who leapt in to head home on one of the many crosses coming in from Grilled's leaky left defence.
