MOWKIWA Clipped
Majestic Jeftić
Cameroonian II.2 second-placers AS MOWKIWA would be put to bed by the Birds today, and in a match that had
Douglas Carapaica make his unofficial debut, it was his defensive partner
Mateja Jeftić that graciously showed the ropes. AS MOWKIWA would oblige by not posing much if any of a threat, after a slow start dug them into a deep hole, from which they never found the reserves to recover from.
It should have been a closer affair, in theory at least. MOWKIWA had some big names of their own, foremost among them their 22 year-old homegrown former youth international Stanley Lawrence, who had Israeli senior Liam Yeshurun and fellow local Johnson Taylor with him in midfield. German captain Kevin Batman had been a reliable force at left wing, Serbian striker Niko Mok a fine finisher, and Turkish Number Three Sökmen Emin on top of his game, in recent weeks.
None of that mattered a whit against the sheer talent of this Grilled selection, however, possibly encapsulated best in one man -
Chan Ze Han. His brilliance was so unmistakable that it all but overrode other considerations for the opponents, which in turn implied more freedom for his teammates. They were hardly stool pigeons either, and while
Salah Kamel may have seen better days, there was no mistaking his air of intent coming in to lash a volley from the right, in the sixth minute. Taylor would get the barest of touches in, though, which threw Kamel off.
Not a problem as the Birds adapted quite willingly, with Chan dropping deeper to allow the midfield more of the limelight. MOWKIWA were perhaps too cautious when Grilled were still slightly uncertain of their approach, but by the time they had allowed Douglas and Jeftić to all but sit on the halfway line, it was basically over. Jeftić in particular would entertain himself by trying out various through balls, and one of them would make it all the way for
Chu Xin Lee to put away, after 16 minutes.
MOWKIWA kept to safety first after that, which proved likely the wrong response. Batman would attempt to have his team counter from deep, but they were evidently not the most practised at that type of play, which had them mostly hemmed within their own final third. This would be lethal, as
Bernie Egan's effort at stealing the ball in the corner of their penalty area, saw him go down after getting brushed by Uğurlu's shoulder. A very soft penalty, certainly, but they all count, as Jeftić planted it outside Antonio Pilla's reach.
There would be a couple more close shaves from Ter Berg and then Chu, before the match settled into a rather more quiet period. MOWKIWA were defending pretty well at this stage for a team arrayed in a 2-5-3, mostly due to Batman and Pizzano more or less acting as fullbacks by now. This state of affairs dragged into the second half, and it would take Kamel's substitution out for
Heng Dong Chu, to get more action down the wings. Within the minute,
Mateja Jeftić had tricked his way to the edge of the MOWKIWA box from deep, and he was allowed to approach his shot more or less as a free-kick - a bad idea. That made 3-0, with a beautiful curler to the top left.
MOWKIWA's Chinese head coach San Kook had seen enough, but there was an air of resignation as he replaced Lawrence with Prince Freeman, which could be interpreted as saving the former's legs from a lost cause. If it wasn't yet, it would soon be one, as Uğurlu got called for a cynical foul just outside the penalty area. This was well inside Jeftić's range, but he hung it instead, and
Chan Ze Han's purposeful knockdown allowed Heng an easy finish from five yards.
Uğurlu had to be a liability with the yellow card hanging over his head, and Adriano Stepp replacing him would be fairly reasonable, as decisions went. Some time later in the 74th minute, MOWKIWA would expend their third and final substitution taking Nathaniel Butler off for Cino Cicco, not that Butler had been given much opportunity to practice his craft. This would also be the end of a fairly decent outing for
Douglas Carapaica, who would be taken off for
Bhavya Panigrahi.
All this shuffling of personnel would expectedly loosen the match up, but it would again be Grilled Birds who profited, with
Heng Dong Chu marauding freely down the left, against a tiring Pizzano.
Chu Xin Lee made it five from a short pass supplied by Heng. MOWKIWA's only strike on target would arrive in the last minute, right after
Moey Xin Seng had replaced
Vikram Mudaliar, but Liam Yeshurun's effort would be solidly blocked en route by Panigrahi, without unduly troubling
Jānis Salmiņš.
