Tigers Burnt
Free For All
Happy to be finally up against Cup opposition actually with eleven players, Grilled took their time to get going in both halves before cranking their play up a notch as they went on, finishing eight goals to the good against hopeful Geylang Division Five club Fearless Tiger.
The Tigers, an almost wholly-local side with Danish forward Bengt Kammer their only import, and a free transfer at that, were indeed unafraid to attack down the flanks; Wingers Teh Chu Keng and Fang Dunliang had lifted the club to a top-half finish in their previous two seasons, but unfortunately they were out matched by Grilled's defenders, even
sans Talib who was given a break.
Coach
Luis Alcántara showed that he still could hack it against lesser opposition as he guided his charges through a frustrating early period, then struck the opener with most of the power that once saw him the designated free-kick taker for the club. The Tigers were undaunted, but then Mirchev doubled the lead with a swerving drive that discouraged them perceptibly.
Mohd Firdaus notched his first goal of the season, as he wisely acted selfishly after Haji bin Che Lah let a square pass roll by him in the 36th minute. The notoriously generous Firdaus appeared about to pull the ball back for one of his partners, then thought better of it and rightly poked it past Kwang Tze Jian for the third goal.
The home fans did have their moment, and it came right after Firdaus' goal when central midfielder Ibrahim Saad claimed his first career goal by shooting straight and true from thirty metres out. The ferocity of the strike caught Bao-Tam unawares, and reinjected passion into the match.
The Tigers' revival was shortlived as Grilled's quality told. Bona, who had been disappointing in front of goal so far this season, though it may hardly be considered part of his job scope, finally put his personal demons to rest by elegantly sidefooting in an assist by a rejuvenated van Liere.
Hjortlind made it 1-5 and Kum Soon invited trouble by hacking Fjällbratt down, before the off-colour
Shen Kek-Tjiang staked a claim for getting his first-team spot back by barging strongly into the penalty area and cracking a peach of a shot past the hapless Tze Jian.
Hjortlind then notched yet another Cup brace late one after the game looked to be petering out, and van Liere pulled a rabbit out of his hat with a surprise cross that only Mirchev anticipated. The resulting flying header was a joy to watch. It was not over yet, though, as Fredgård found the time to hook a ninth in before Mirchev blemished his glowing credentials with a yellow card for petulant behaviour in stoppage time.
