Choke Cleared
Game of Two Halves
Grilled's start to the season was drifting towards being on the wrong end of what was possibly the most dramatic comeback ever seen in the S-League, as they somehow let a tenacious Chemistry side back into the match from being four down at half-time. Just when it appeared that Chemistry's momentum would take them over, Grilled won a dramatic last-minute penalty to avenge last season's loss of six points to the visitors.
Being four-nil up by 42 minutes was perhaps the last thing on Grilled's fans' minds after the harried departure of goalkeeper and captain Ahmed Abed-Sulaiman just yesterday. Not many placed much faith in his deputy
Brad Beckman, who had shown himself not quite up to top flight football in his appearances last season.
The doubts were soon laid to rest as Chemistry employed the dubious tactic of flooding their midfield and leaving just two defenders behind, which was always going to be a gamble against strikers the ability of Rotteveel and Subri. Indeed, ex-U20 defender Heng Chang Chin couldn't do much once Rotteveel edged ahead of him in a rush to Paullin's ball over the top, leaving Rotteveel to smash home Grilled's first league goal of the new season.
That was followed by Sid swinging a free-kick just over the defensive wall into the far end of Lantos' goal to take Grilled two clear by the tenth minute, after Oh Dong Tse had rammed into MacKinnon not far from the penalty area. The superb start continued as Grilled rolled on against a hesitant Chemistry backline, and Rotteveel did well to latch onto another sweet assist from the stellar Paullin for a third.
Subri was wasteful when confronted with just Lantos in the 38th minute, but when a fourth went in by way of Sid arriving very late into the box, the spectators could only envisage a thumping Grilled victory. They ended up correct on the victory part, but not before Chemistry had fought to within an inch of a stunning win.
The early minutes of the second half had little to suggest that Grilled's commanding lead was in any danger as all, for while the hosts lacked some of their early drive, they were still holding Chemistry well at bay. Left winger Remo Haafkens surprised with a very early cross from near the halfway line that Tunisian national forward Mohamed El Boubakri elegantly guided past Beckman, but it was thought to be no more than a common consolation.
There was rather more concern as Chemistry wrested control of midfield, and reminded Grilled that they badly needed a new first-choice goalkeeper as stand-in Beckman misjudged Qin Caen-Khim's chip badly. After coming out to meet the ball, he belatedly realised that he wouldn't be able to leap high enough to grab it, but by then backtracking was impossible.
Beckman was less at fault when Shahrulnizam Ladzim struck accurately into the top corner, but that meant that Grilled's once-formidable lead was down to a single goal. Sid looked a certainty to relieve the pressure when Subri was pushed down in a corner kick situation, but the Polish defender, on a hat-trick, astoundingly clipped the penalty marginally wide for the first time in living memory.
The fates seemed to be firmly behind Chemistry when Mohamed El Boubakri dazzled a path through and hammered in the equalizing goal despite Lik-Tsun's covering. It was desperate times for Grilled as they saw two precious home points vanish before their eyes, and Chemistry were raring to make it three with incisive attacking play. Spirig was forced into a delaying tackle to prevent Grilled's defence from being outnumbered, and received a yellow for that.
The surprise ending was itself twisted, though, after Rotteveel clattered heavily into Lantos in a valiant attempt to score a late winner. While he didn't manage that, his charge took Lantos out and deposited Chemistry's second choice Yann Jolly into the goalkeeper's position. Sid would take full advantage of that when Grilled were awarded another penalty, as he discharged his responsibilities to take an early lead on the top scorers' table and deliver victory to Grilled.
