More Than A Whisker
Maikel Fiver
Grilled paid a heavy price for winning their first Cup match, as
John MacKinnon was left to contemplate a long-term injury after badly twisting his ankle in a freak accident on the bumpy pitch. Subri had just put Grilled ahead a short while ago with a collected finish after twenty minutes of non-stop attacking play, when MacKinnon cried out in agony mid-run and sat down clutching his unnaturally-twisted left foot.
Bulgarian
Ivaylo Mirchev entered in place of the unlucky Scotsman, and Grilled were none the worse for it, with
Nawaz Talib blasting home seconds after the game was restarted with a drop ball.
Maikel Rotteveel, who had not endeared himself to the hard-core home fans after he charged a defender to the ground earlier on, responded to their whistles by thundering in a grounder from some distance to put Grilled firmly in the driving seat in the 34th minute.
The home crowd soon found a new target for their disapproval, as
Ciro Penati rather dramatically threw himself to the ground after being bumped slightly by Fishwhiskers' central defender Sun Khar Yau on the edge of the penalty area. It was a rather cringeworthy dive, so bad in fact that it could hardly have been forgiven by the referee. Penati didn't agree however, and his rather polarizing character manifested himself when he signalled to the crowd just where they could shove their opinions with a gesture that thankfully went unseen by the match officials.
A fired-up Penati then nearly got his own back a minute later, when Han Kok snapped at a disoriented Fishwhiskers player and knocked the ball cleanly to the Italian. In the end, he was cleverly stopped by leftback Tan Guang Ming when on the verge of shooting, a tackle that was amply rewarded with cheers.
Grilled did not have the monopoly on foul play, though, as Fishwhiskers held their own with a succession of niggly pushes that came close to provoking even the older heads. Liang Tu Huan brought it to a whole new level when he executed a somersault in front of a bemused
Nawaz Talib as the latter made as if to slide in, however, a sure caution for diving if ever there was one.
Fishwhiskers were never going to save this game, such was the gulf in standards, and
Tapesh Chowdhury enjoyed his second goal in a week after diligently following up on a Subri strike that deflected off a defender. Rotteveel then padded his resume with three goals in seven minutes, sandwiching a good penalty kick between two solo efforts down the right flank, helped by the pensive attitude of the already-booked Li Choon Ann.
Rotteveel secured his Man of the Match plaudits with a fifth goal after eighty minutes, while Subri finished with a brace after some inspired running down the left side by Chowdhury.
