Refusal To Succumb
Caribbean Heat
A terrible opening to this week's World Battle test against the Barbados Premier League had Grilled Birds fall three behind former Sapphire Challenger Cup winners Caribbean DKvD by 35 minutes, but a bullheaded denial of defeat had the Birds claw their way back to a draw at the death. Caribbean were understandably disgusted at how they had let another slip, especially given the boost it might have given their poor league fortunes, but they could rightly hold their heads high for achieving what arguably better-heralded clubs could not.
While top and bottom of their respective top-level leagues respectively, this was hardly the mismatch that less-researched pundits might have made it out to be. Caribbean had many players that might conceivably have made it to the Grilled starting lineup, with a few like Hungarian winger Patrik Tokody likely walking straight into particular roles. Caribbean DKvD's Brunei connection was impressive too, with captain Besar bin Hj Zaim, Jalil bin Irwan and Hj Effendi bin Zaim all having been in their national youth team, Besar and Hj Effendi also capped at senior level.
The Birds for their part would celebrate the return of
Bilal Mohammad Harun from a three-week layoff from his latest injury, but from how he conducted himself, it could be wise not to rush him back from his knee concern just yet. Bilal's handicapped mobility - together with indifferent showings by
Chu Xin Lee and
Salah Kamel out wide - would serve to doom Grilled early on, which however is not to discount Caribbean's taking of their chances.
The first such would take but four minutes to arrive, as Tokody demonstrated the difference between a specialist and a filler in a position. Not entirely unlike Chu himself in style, Tokody would know exactly what he was doing as he challenged with Chu for a ball headed outside the box by Nazareno Gruñon, and a sickeningly-smooth combination of touches would throw the Grilled man entirely off his back. Gruñon was not about to stand around wasting his time either, and drew inside
Douglas Carapaica for an assist that was prompt in arriving.
This was a blow to Grilled's gameplan, but hardly insurmountable yet; Grilled retained a slight advantage in possession, that however turned out possibly not as decisive an advantage as they had wished for. It would take over twenty minutes for them to work
Bernie Egan into a plausible shooting position, only for the Irishman to be closed down fast by Hj Effendi. Not only that, the Brunei defender then found Tokody with a magical long pass that had even Moey fail to cut it out, and the swift counterattack that followed resulted in a heavy cross back across the width of the pitch, that Lorenzo Curridori whipped in with aplomb.
Jānis Salmiņš didn't appreciate getting beaten at his near post there, and luckily his little shove on Curridori as the latter raced past to retrieve the ball wouldn't be seen by the referee. It would get worse for Salmiņš, as Besar bin Hj Zaim then produced an unstoppable rocket to his top left corner in the 35th minute, for which he could not even properly blame his defenders for not handling the more urgent threats closer to goal.
Well, Grilled Birds might have the consolation that this was just a semi-official tournament, but the match appeared well and truly lost, as exemplified by
Teo Chuan Yong electing to run into a corner rather than take any of several good early passing options, in the immediate aftermath. More such unedifying play would continue from Grilled, at least up until the 60th minute, when the slightly-hobbling
Bilal Mohammad Harun was replaced by
Heng Dong Chu.
The change in Grilled's orientation after that suggested that Bilal should not have started in the first place, as they were basically a changed team, at least offense-wise, with Heng driving them forward. None of the Caribbean midfielders looked capable against Heng's assured dribbles, a fact he quickly caught onto, and Romanian forward Ilie Mateiuc had to resort to pulling Heng down from behind in the 68th, after tracking him for over forty yards to no avail. Sadly,
Mateja Jeftić's free-kick went nowhere, but the booking for Mateiuc made a point.
The Birds remained nowhere close to a consolation, but not for much longer, as Heng's provocative running gradually opened gaps all over Caribbean's half of the field.
Chu Xin Lee was one beneficiary, as he emerged from Tokody's shadow with a sustained advance up the right. Mudaliar remained well-covered, but Egan had taken it upon himself to switch over to help out, and he was rewarded with a delightful little flick-on by the highly-aware Mudaliar. Spanish goalkeeper Roberto Losada Alvear noticed what was happening, but could not move early enough to shut Egan's angles off.
It still looked a mountain too high for Grilled, particularly as their opponents had no intention of going easy on them, with Nazareno Gruñon next into the referee's book for an uncompromising sliding challenge on
Moey Xin Seng. Their physical if increasingly-flustered defence seemed enough to protect their lead, and when the fourth official held up the electronic board showing a single minute of added time, one might have thought it all over.
This was, however, also about exactly the moment that
Chu Xin Lee broke inside from the right again, with Tokody and Baptiste Roulin having tuned out - which they would soon regret. Chu didn't need much time at all to drag a pacey ball across the six-yard box, and Moey was not about to delay his strike either, as he hoofed it first-time. Finnish midfielder Jaakko Granholm appeared to be convinced that it was going out, as he made no attempt at a block, only to watch as it found the inside of the post for 3-2.
That said, Caribbean remained with a goal advantage, and less than sixty seconds to wait it out; surely, they could not throw it away? Well, the Birds going for broke would leave Gruñon alone with Salmiņš on the restart, and the Argentine forward seemed to have the final say as he rounded the goalie... only to be clattered ball and all by Douglas. Appeals for a penalty went unheeded as the Birds embarked on a breakaway for real, and the spectators were left agog, as
Chan Ze Han crashed it home at the other end in due course.
