Terrillions Retired
Quah Kills Game
Grilled advanced to the sixth round of the Singapore Cup after a hard-fought 2-4 victory at Terillions' Pioneer Stadium, where some 50000 spectators mostly cheered on the home side in their stylish green-and-yellow kit. This gave Grilled an excuse to break out their little-used white third kit, and may have been lucky for
Tapesh Chowdhury who recorded his first Grilled goal after being set free by a snappy diagonal pass from Quah.
Superhot striker
Maikel Rotteveel extended his scoring run to nine games four minutes later, as he surprised ex-Bluedragon goalie Gao Shi-Fang with a splendid long-range boomer from over thirty metres out. It was the kind of strike that many coaches would have discouraged as wasteful, but one shouldn't argue with a player who certainly knows where the net is, and how to stick a ball into it.
The Birds didn't have as much quality defending their wings, however, as Penati obviously had his mind elsewhere, and Bona was positionally sound but heavy of foot. The home fans had their goal when Che Harun bin Rozi got his ninth in this cup run with a standing header from very close range - or possibly a standing punch, as his left hand moved suspiciously high in the process. Replays proved inconclusive, but it wouldn't have mattered as the referee signalled for the goal almost instantly.
Che Harun nearly caught Valdir unprepared again when he got the ball at his feet after Bona was shaken off by hardworking Tunisian winger Jamal Ben Chakroun, but Talib stepped in just in time to ward his shot off for a corner. Terrillions applied more pressure as they went for the equaliser, and their captain Aw Ping Dong ripped a powerful rising effort that caught the top of the crossbar.
Grilled were driven back in similar fashion for the remainder of the half, and the inexperienced
Ciro Penati became a target for the wily Terrillion forwards. Star striker Dante Jacob easily provoked the youngster in his native Italian, and only Talib's quick reading of the situation prevented Penati from losing his cool. As it was, he was still booked for his aggressive behaviour.
Penati's day could have gotten worse just a minute later, when he matched Che Harun for pace as they raced across the length of the penalty area, but was fooled momentarily when Che Harun stopped suddenly. Not a natural defender, Penati lunged in and fortunately got the ball, but the striker was likewise prepared and crumbled like a cookie. A less observant referee might have sent Penati off and awarded the spot kick, but this time all the striker got was a wry smile and a shake of the head.
The game was very much still within the home side's capabilities to recover, and the started the second half with great self-belief - perhaps a bit too much self-belief for Guy Estiez, who launched himself into a sliding tackle he had no chance of winning against Paullin. That put Paullin's ankle out of whack, and the Swiss midfielder limped off with it visibly swollen, with Fjällbratt replacing him on the right wing.
Any hopes from the Terrillion fans that Fjällbratt would be a lame duck substitute were dispelled in the 68th minute, though, as the fresh Swede doggedly ran past Turkish leftback Dinçer Dogu and delivered an underhit cross. The defence wasn't expecting that, and the hashed clearance was promptly lumped back into the net by
Fabian Bona to make it 1-3.
Dante Jacob lived up to his star billing as he calmly guided a grounder into the corner of Valdir's goalmouth with ten minutes remaining, and the busy Che Harun could have made Grilled really sweat when he knocked a visionary pass forward to the unguarded Antonio Condeminas, who unfortunately for Terrillions was not on the same wavelength and had checked his run. Grilled then came close twice through Chowdhury, who just wasn't cool enough at the end, and finally got their safety cushion back as
Quah Han Kok rifled a fourth in past Gao.
