Sharpening Up
Mirchev Cameo
As striker
Maikel Rotteveel watched from the terraces, his teammates combined to score thrice at Coliseum d'Hauts Esprits without him and take pole position after the first half of the season.
Faced with a selection dilemma without the suspended Rotteveel, coach
Marcus Liehner opted to stick
Lee Jie Siong as defensive cover in front of Grilled's usual defence, and play with Subri alone upfront instead. The Malaysian forward took to his role with good grace, and showcased his commitment with a meaty challenge on RaZer's leftback Wang Wee-Hwa that led to an early substitution.
Thomas Tellbrant had hardly taken to the field when Lik-Tsun knocked a direct ball to Han Kok, catching the entire RaZer backline sleeping. Quah's finish was too conservative, though, and Mak Jiao-Long simply had to hold his ground to deny the midfielder an easy goal.
The tie began to heat up as Zou Tsu-Yee caught the back of Spirig's leg with a late kick that had the Swiss midfielder holding his limb in agony. That earned the game's first yellow card, and gave 21 year-old Bulgarian
Ivaylo Mirchev his first S-League appearance after three long seasons of waiting.
That proved the signal for Grilled to surge ahead, as
Hidde van Liere, who had a quiet day thus far, got the better of Tellbrant on the right flank. He pushed the ball along the sidelines up to the corner flag, then lofted in a cross that the fast-advancing Pakistani defender
Nawaz Talib met strongly at the near post for an old-fashioned center forward's strike.
Subri won the ball from the kick-off, and went on to draw a foul some twenty metres from goal. Up stepped Sid, who recorded his tenth goal of the season with a dipping special that went up over the wall and right back downwards. Mak Jiao-Long was rooted at the other side as the unsavable shot flew in.
Canadian central defender Peter Patel posted a good finish to make it 1-2 in the 66th minute as Grilled concentrated too much on defending their advantage. Encouraged, the home side prodded furiously at Grilled's defence with multiple long balls aimed at their strikers, but with Jie Siong on hand to help out, these efforts proved ultimately fruitless.
Weng Shen got booked for a petulant trip on MacKinnon after the Scotsman got the better of him in a physical challenge, but his team looked the more likely to score before Mirchev wrapped up the contest. He unexpectedly joined an exclusive club of Grilled players that have scored on their league debut when he diligently followed through on an overhit pass, then tucked the ball past Jiao-Long when the covering defender slowed down just a bit too soon.
