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| FIXTURE HISTORY |
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| Season 72 | W | 2 - 5 | Friendly | | Season 71 | W | 3 - 2 | Friendly | | Season 69 | W | 0 - 6 | Friendly | | Season 64 | L | 1 - 2 | Tournament (Group Phase) | | Season 59 | W | 5 - 0 | Tournament (Group Phase) |
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Sword Versus Shield
Dry Run
With Grilled Birds and Farmer Bunnies taking part in both Singapore Cup semifinals next Wednesday in an unprecedented turn of events, the clubs made arrangements for a special training fixture, played before a strictly-limited audience. The ensuing match would suitably bolster the Birds' confidence, while giving Farmer Bunnies another reminder of the need to convert their chances.
The starting lineups were purposely chosen to reflect their midweek teamsheet, as coaches
Hovaness Noubaryan and
Dalibor Kostadinović stressed that they were out to refine their tactics. The respective 2-5-3 and 5-3-2 left no uncertainty as to what parts would be played, with Grilled the aggressor to Farmer's defenders.
There would perhaps be too much mutual respect between the sides, as they got off to a slow start, before Grilled began dictating the rhythm. A lone
Billy Camperio was definitely not about to contest midfield on his own, and he would rationally seek to act as an advanced sweeper. The Birds, for their part, knew how to take their time with
Moey Xin Seng in the director's role, and they refused to spend possession wastefully.
Farmer Bunnies were hardly straightforward to take apart, as they settled into a near-impenetrable low block, and
Vivian Grubenmann would be privileged to have Grilled's forwards basically double-teamed virtually every time they came within shooting distance. Still,
Bernie Egan managed to force a corner kick out of
Kwek Yun Jie in the 28th minute, and
Bilal Mohammad Harun would hang in the air to glance the flat delivery home.
That left the Buns again needing to chase the game, something that they had not exactly excelled at in recent months. They frankly seemed rather short on ideas, as Grilled carefully built their attacks up as to leave no obvious counterattacking opportunities.
Chu Xin Lee's 34th minute grounder would be met by Grubenmann's extended leg, but the Number Nineteen would find the roof of the net just four minutes later, as
Chan Ze Han split the Buns' central defence.
Billy Camperio had the Buns' only chance of note after that, as they tidily worked their way out of the back following
Kalki Parvathaneni's foul and booking, but the former Italian U-20 midfielder couldn't get enough behind his shot, after getting herded to the outside by
Gilbert Webb. Camperio had certainly covered his fair share of ground, whatever else one might say, and
Christophe Fouche would stand in for him for the remaining half.
There was no indication that this replacement would improve the Buns' circumstances, as Grilled continued pressing down hard. The Birds had clued in to just how far they could push their backline, with Kalki having taken it on himself to keep an eye out for
Mushtag Al-Nameeri. Bilal would hit a third goal hard past Grubenmann in the 57th minute, and it was only the Swiss goalie's excellent reflexes that kept
Moey Xin Seng from slipping through, five minutes on.
It was looking very grim for the Buns, as they could hardly get it out of their own half, and Kostadinović was observed furiously scribbling notes in the dugout. Their break would eventually arrive in the 78th minute through
Nurlan Ablaev, though it owed most to the invention of one
Richard Agyei. The former Ghana youth international dropped a forty-yard pass almost onto Ablaev's boot, and the Russian striker did it justice with a cushioned touch, and then a spectacular lob that jammed itself into
Massoud Dob's far post.
That would also be Ablaev's final contribution, as he was taken off for
Ibrahim Zahran Al-Maashany, with
Bernie Egan also recalled for Grilled.
Heng Dong Chu came on in Egan's place on the right wing, with the clear intent of trying out as an inverted winger. Heng's first order of business was however chasing Ibrahim fruitlessly as the Buns acted proactively for once; a couple of fine short passes saw
Mushtag Al-Nameeri with an open shot, but Dob would block it over the bar.
Still, this was the best that Farmer Bunnies had looked today, and had they begun operating thusly earlier, it might have been a closer contest. As things went, they were unable to mount any additional serious threats to Dob's goal, and the training fixture would conclude with
Bilal Mohammad Harun's rather optimistic bid for his hat-trick, as the referee inspected his watch.
