Serbian Red Fever
Two Ejected
Grilled's second-string midfield was disjointed and taught a lesson by Serbian Division Four side Sahtjor Donjeck, who soundly whipped the Birds 7-1 in an international friendly. That might be partially explained by the fact that Grilled were left with nine men by the end of the game, thanks to fouls by Simon and bin Che Lah.
It was always expected to be hard going for Grilled, as they lined up with only fresh youngsters
Lim Chuan Jing and
Peter Fjällbratt in central midfield, with the equally raw
Mohd Firdaus bin Yaacob and
Allan Ødegaard flanking them. Perhaps mindful that he wasn't likely to get many chances and eager to forward his bid for a fixed role in the first team, Belgian striker
Dimitri Simon slid in hard on Erik Thoresen when trying to harry him off the ball. He got a yellow for that, which would have grave consequences shortly.
Patently not match-fit, Grilled defender
Nor Suhaimi bin Che Lah appeared to suffer a sprain while jumping for the ball with Italian forward Virgilio Dalla Valle. He did enough to put Valle off his shot, but
Hang Bao-Tam spilled the save and allowed winger Luigino Truglio the simplest of tap-ins.
Turkish midfielder Armagan Akel left Bao-Tam standing in the 23rd minute when he bent a free-kick around the wall, and Swiss striker Daniel Rumpf was quick to add a third when he held off
Weng Seng-Huat to poke the ball in. To compound Grilled's troubles, Simon stupidly pulled Guy Blockx back after his countryman had smartly dispossessed him, and despite his pleadings was deservedly shown a second yellow card and dismissed.
Grilled doggedly kept Sahtjor Donjeck at bay for the rest of the half as the nearly ten thousand fans watched in anticipation of a goalfest. This state of affairs lasted until the hour mark, when Rumpf struck again with another blazing dash right down the middle.
It was Grilled's turn to complain when the overconfident Rumpf didn't pull out of a chase and charged right into Bao-Tam's unprotected side in an ugly incident several minutes later. Bao-Tam to his credit somehow held on to the ball despite being in obvious pain, and several Grilled players on the bench appeared ready to dash out and confront Rumpf. A yellow card for the offender didn't satisfy Bao-Tam's teammates as the 36 year-old was carried off with bruised ribs, with former coach
Frank Öhmo replacing him.
Öhmo's first real threat came when
Nor Suhaimi bin Che Lah leaned on an opposition player during a corner, leading to a penalty kick. Armagan Akel wasn't concentrating though, and put the ball wide even as Öhmo dived in the wrong direction. Rumpf, by now extremely unpopular among the Grilled squad, rubbed the visitors' noses in with a brilliant diving header in the 79th minute to complete his hat-trick.
Nor Suhaimi bin Che Lah was clearly off the pace, and after Spanish youngster Luis Ibaigane had him clearly beaten for speed, the Grilled defender didn't disguise his intention to take Ibaigane out with a push to the small of the back. It was a cut-and-dried red for which Suhaimi could have no complaints about.
Grilled got a consolation through
Subri bin Ku Zainol who cut off a backpass, then brought it round Gergõ Péter, but Sahtjor Donjeck got the last word - two in fact - as Virgilio Dalla Valle rose above an out-of-shape Öhmo to head in a sixth before Jago Mijatovic caught Öhmo napping with a long-ranged looping header from outside the six-yard box.
