Ocean Drained
Sid Thinks Quick
Grilled held off Division Four club Ocean's Twelve to gain entry to the seventh round of the Cup, while giving three local youngsters their day in the sun. Huihong, Tingfeng and Darong, who once tested each other in kickabouts on the Chicken Wings' modest training grounds, all featured and were productive in the narrow victory.
They were also the only changes from the side that beat GeoStarZ United FC over the weekend though, as Grilled recognized that Oceans' would be a tough nut to crack, especially with Rotteveel out through suspension. Subri thus led the line by himself, with a three-man central midfield playing deep behind him. Sid started out with quite a howler as he practically invited Lee Siong Jia - no relation to Jie Siong, the former Grilled player - inside for a free crack. Valdir somehow pushed it to Talib, who hacked it out for a throw.
Sid would turn hero very soon, as he ran up to the ball right after the referee blew for a hard foul on Subri during a breakaway, stopped it with his hand, and after a glance at the goal lobbed Roger Hofstetter from all of thirty-five metres. The Oceans players were hardly amused, but the referee had no doubt that Sid was well within his rights.
The game was controlled mostly by the hosts, and they must have thought that they had a strong case for a penalty after Mokhtar bin Puteh was bumped by Huihong in the six-yard box. The referee paused for a moment but didn't blow for it, and the reaction from the fans got downright ugly after Subri got away with a dubious hand in the chest of a defender to hold him off while racing to score Grilled's second goal.
The mood improved after the indifferent officiating swung in their favour, as MacKinnon was judged to be guilty for what really was a non-event, just outside the Grilled area. Dutch free-kick specialist Berend Bekkering, already five goals to the good this season, found a gap in the wall and sent an outstanding grounder through it into the bottom corner of goal.
Zoltan Árva eye for goal, not one often found in a defender, went on display in the 65th minute, as he was confident enough to drive a loose ball at Hofstetter without hesitation. The Swiss goalkeeper got a hand across his body, but he was off-balance and couldn't stop the powerfully hit strike from going over the line.
German forward Peer Goedgezelschap had laboured hard for most of the match, but was kept under wraps by the valiant defensive efforts of Talib and Tingfeng until the 82nd minute, when the Pakistani got the game's only yellow card for accidentally braining Goedgezelschap on his follow-through of an otherwise good tackle.
Oceans saw that as an encouragement to attack, especially with Grilled's youngsters on the flanks slowly losing their discipline, and Qin Van-Phu reignited hopes of taking the game into extra time with a well-taken angled shot. The supplier of that assist, Israeli winger Tzur Romano, nearly achieved that with an impressive header just a minute later. The brave attempt ended up on top of the net, however, and with it went his side's hopes.
