Bulldogs Tamed
Chan Tuned
Grilled Birds' final exercise before their Ruby Challenger Cup final would conclude in a 4-1 triumph over Croatian H.I. V.36 leaders S.C. Bulldog Porec, which had key men
Chan Ze Han and
Moey Xin Seng again playing starring roles. Helpfully, the Bulldogs had been rated as a fair stand-in for the Birds' finals opponents, with somewhat more of a defensive bias. If so, it could be a very enjoyable afternoon for the Birds tomorrow.
The pundits were out in force seeking hints as to Grilled's finals lineup from Serpin's selection today, which did not bode well for
Heng Dong Chu at all, as the out-of-favour winger didn't even make the bench.
Kalle ter Berg got the nod ahead of
Salah Kamel in a very competitive midfield, with
Mateja Jeftić losing out in defence. Against this, the Bulldogs would pin their attacking ambitions on right winder Robert Prosinečki, with Polish skipper Hubert Rogowiec leading a withdrawn central three in a 4-5-1.
There would soon be some head-scratching over Bulldogs gaffer Luka Modrić apparently focusing his backline on wing coverage, despite the Birds going for their usual tucked-in wide midfielders, with
Bernie Egan drawing a foul from the late-covering Domagoj Vida in the sixth minute.
Bhavya Panigrahi made the first attempt on Dominik Livaković's goal with a sweetly-struck outside-of-foot curler, which swerved marginally wide of the top corner.
Having escaped then, the Bulldogs stuck to their guns, and had a few good moment from Prosinečki against Kalki. With backup always failing to arrive, though, they were never a real threat to the Birds, and the game would naturally drift towards Grilled livening it up in and around the Bulldogs' box. The Croats marked and pressed competently for the most part, but this was never going to last forever, and
Chan Ze Han would be slipped through to score in the 27th minute after repeated pushes.
Chan wouldn't have to wait to double his tally, as the Birds forced an indirect free-kick on their next possession, and crowded the penalty area sufficiently to force the defence into a failed clearance. Three minutes later, it would be
Bilal Mohammad Harun to come up with the goods, as he knew exactly what
Moey Xin Seng was expecting of him. Moey didn't even have to look to nudge the ball into Bilal's path, and the Number Six had zero hesitation in thrashing a screamer in the general direction of goal. That it spun wildly just before reaching Livaković might have been a spot of luck, but as they say, you can't score if you don't shoot.
That was all
Eren Serpin wanted to see, and the Grilled head coach would quite reasonably signal for his players to tone it down until further notice. In any case, the Bulldogs weren't exactly chomping at the bit to try and mount a comeback either, and there appeared a mutual understanding as the match cooled off well into the second half.
The introduction of
Wu Jinglong and
Chu Xin Lee in the 70th minute would give the game an expected kick in the pants, and the Birds were back in the attacking business. Two minutes after their introduction, Wu had found
Bernie Egan unattended in the six-yard box after some mazy dribbling against the Bulldogs fullback, but the Irishman wouldn't be able to sort his legs out in time then.
Panigrahi would then again be denied from a free-kick as Livaković was on to his disguised quick effort, while the referee was busy booking Prosinečki for the offending tackle; the Grilled defender would cheekily try to claim a retake, to which the man in black merely rolled his eyes. In any case, the Birds were not exactly short on opportunities either, with
Wu Jinglong having plenty of fun down the left.
This would be the Birds' undoing, as it turned out, as Dario Melnjak turned the tables on a showboating Wu in the 86th minute, after the Chinese winger tried to be too cute with the ball in close quarters. Bulldogs captain Hubert Rogowiec very vocally called for the cross, and Melnjak obliged with a precise delivery that had the added bonus of luring
Jānis Salmiņš into a poor position.
If the Bulldogs were hoping for a miracle, however,
Moey Xin Seng made sure that there was nothing of the sort, as he restored Grilled's three-goal advantage with a fierce drive barely two minutes on - which was curtains for the Croats.