Bitter Ruminations
Shearman Does It All
Grilled's latest funk continued as they were frustrated by Syrian II.4 challengers The Fighting Camels, who went much the same route as Haha and RFC had, in turtling their way to a favourable result. Defending in a 5-4-1 with their two homegrown former youth international stars Alamir Taearah and Naser Tlaymat, the Camels would however have Aussie sweeper Wendell Shearman to thank the most, as he did double duty at both ends - and very well at that.
It was hardly an understatement that the Birds were getting slightly tired of this, even as they switched their frontline up by necessity;
Vikram Mudaliar's ankle concern left the door open for
Kalki Parvathaneni to lead the line, with
Salah Kamel taking over on the left, and
Heng Dong Chu seemingly back out of favour. Kalki wouldn't take long to have the fans wondering at whether he had been criminally underutilized, as he convincingly latched onto a disguised
Abd Hadi Taib Mazhud pass in the fifth minute, and thrashed it past Ramiro Carneiro Santos before any defender could close in.
An excellent start for Grilled, doubtless, but not really representative of what would unfold. The Camels were made of stiffer stuff than that lapse might have suggested, and the willingness of George-Bogdan Triculescu to drive play out of defence with vigour, would leave the Birds shaken far more often than they cared to admit. The Romanian would be a handful to stop once he got going, as
Teo Chuan Yong discovered in the 20th minute. Teo's initial barge had no discernable effect, and he would then have to take Triculescu down illegally, to prevent a three-on-two situation.
That was a clear yellow card, which the Camels took inspiration from in pressing their attacks whenever opportunity presented. A good spell of possession about this period saw a misunderstanding arise between
Shekar Kannan and
Bhavya Panigrahi on Grilled's right side, leaving Tibet Erlikhan free with the ball just outside the penalty area. It would be promptly transferred to a flank-switching Amnat Angkulwattanachai, who flicked it past Teo, and then lifted it over the advancing
Jānis Salmiņš on the bounce. This was definitely much more than the average fullback could be expected to do!
Chan Ze Han recognized that the decay had begun to set in again as he tried to yell some urgency back into his teammates, but his attempt at leading by example would be denied by Santos, who beat him to a well-weighted through pass from Kannan. Santos would be called upon two minutes later to block a
Chu Xin Lee effort coming down the centre, which the midfielder had probably hit too close to him in the first place.
The Camels shut up shope for the remainder of the half, and reopened very loudly in the 48th minute, as Shearman gave them the lead on Abdul-Muhyi Sherazi's cross from wide right. The Bahraini national team prospect had been mostly covered by
Salah Kamel before this, but a terrific burst of pace let him through here. This was enough for him to seek the fast-sprinting Shearman out, and the latter would be unchallenged as he powered his header hard past Salmiņš, before the goalie could even react.
Moey Xin Seng was furious at his defenders at that, but there was nothing for it as Grilled had to fight from behind. Their supporters had to have had uneasy visions of how their two previous losses went, as they watched the Birds boss it about the middle of the pitch, without being able to seriously threaten the Camels goal. Their gaffer Joaquín Serrano Pacheco wouldn't be lazing either, as he withdrew target man Santiago Sebastián Oviedo, for Przemysław Szach's fresher legs in the 67th minute. Szach would immediately go on to continue defending from the front, as Oviedo had.
It could, and did, get worse for the Birds. From an apparent sitter, coming after
Salah Kamel had sought a free
Kalki Parvathaneni out from the left, it became an all-out counter down the same flank, as Santos pulled a reflex save out of the bag. Angkulwattanachai sent it straight down the line, leaving Abdul-Muhyi Sherazi with a clear run at goal, with Grilled's defenders some way behind. Szach and Erlikhan among others called for it, but the Bahraini winger would instead use them as a distraction, to dribble inside and finish for 3-1 by himself.
Chan Ze Han would have to take the game by the scruff of its neck again, just as he had done in Wednesday's cup final, and he would conjure up a reducer within three minutes, finding a way through the middle despite Nathan Elias Magister's close attentions. A magnificent lob made it two for Grilled, which was also the sign for a double substitution -
Gilbert Webb on for
Douglas Carapaica, and somewhat puzzlingly
Sølve Lunde on for Abd Hadi, even as they needed to chase another goal.
If the intention was to give the team a more solid base to launch attacks from, this might not have been entirely misconstrued, as Kamel would have to give up a yellow card for a necessary foul on Sherazi, straightaway. From the free-kick, George-Bogdan Triculescu rocked the crossbar, Kalki set off on the other end only to launch one weakly at the end, and it was soon back at Grilled's end, with Wendell Shearman lifting it barely over, to conclude this breathless to-and-fro.
Injury time did see Grilled Birds nearly salvage the game, as the Camels fell into true disarray for the first time. The usual suspects were coincidentally at it again, but Kamel's initial drive was straight at the goalkeeper, and Kalki could only ring it off the outside of the near post, after he had done great in successfully bringing the rebound around Taearah on his outside.
