The First Win
Sid Nicks It
Grilled collected their first victory of the new S-League season to move into a respectable fourth, thanks to Sid's late scorcher from a free-kick. Grilled disappointingly conceded possession to TTTNW at home, and rarely looked like scoring due to Subri's suspension, but will be glad to have the three points.
Grilled opted to stick an extra man in midfield instead of fielding a second striker alongside Rotteveel, which would lead to a general lack of ideas up front. This was compounded by Penati still carrying a niggling injury, causing his usually fluid movements down the right to break down every so often.
The Birds might have stolen a march on the visitors in the second minute, as
Han Lik-Tsun was left upfield following a meaty collision while pushing up. It looked like a great break for TTTNW, but Árva slid in to dispossess Nilsson before his teammates could run into space, and Talib quickly swept the ball upfield to his now-recovered captain. Han surprised many by expertly turning onto the outside of his defender and curling in a sweet effort that bounced agonizingly past the far post.
There was some worry for Grilled as
Dani Spirig hobbled after getting a knock, but he soldiered on, even putting in a few key tackles. Grilled were left constantly on the back foot as the visitors applied good pressure, but all that would change in an instant -
Quah Han Kok, still buzzing after his unexpected national call-up, blitzed past Ow Ah Kuan from a standing start and raked a superb strike low past Kalle Riis.
Grilled held firm at their own end as TTTNW strove to regain equilibrium, and
Valdir Dias Paes was called into action after Li Chun-fai fielded a crisp shot to his top corner as the defense backed off him. The ball remained in play, and Grilled's desperate attempts to get it out were only made good after Ángel Ferrer hacked Branbilla down in an attempt to rush down his clearance, an easy yellow to give.
TTTNW made an offensive substitution on the hour mark as they chased the game, with Othman bin Ahmad on for the flagging Heinz-Hubert Kleint. The ex-U20 player made an immediate impact down the left, and in fact drew so much attention that Ferrer had free rein down the right side in the 79th minute. Yusman bin Salim was unlucky to see his solid header meet the crossbar from Ferrer's deep cross, but Erik Lewing was there to pick up the pieces by walking the ball into the net.
Now it was Grilled's turn to carve out chances, and MacKinnon appeared to have blown it when he brought down a long ball by Penati beautifully, but poked it uselessly past the post with the goalkeeper stranded. Luckily for him, Rotteveel was brought down by Moniz with five minutes to go, and Sid did his job with a typically wonderful kick that dipped under Riis' reach.
