A City Roving
Hu's The Man
Grilled strolled past City Rovers, but will regret their decision to play Subri as the notoriously injury-prone Malaysian striker pulled up with a calf injury two-thirds through the match. A silver lining was
Hu Jianyong's first two goals for the senior side, as the teenaged winger showed good predatory instinct to earn his wings.
Unlike the previous week, there would be no shocks, with
Zulkiflee bin Othman gaining his first professional goal off a long, long run from his left-wing berth. While far from as highly-rated as Fan or Hu, Zulkiflee has always been thought of as a fit and disciplined winger, and he may have added "good finisher" to that list of perceptions with his cutting drive.
Mirchev then notched a second as Grilled piled on the pressure, as Brompton weren't helped by their central midfielder Mohd Amran bin Fadzim picking up a knock to his knee. As has often been the case this Cup campaign, the hosts were stretched by Fan's ability to advance while hugging the sidelines, and a blossoming understanding with the forwards was taken to another level with Rotteveel and Subri both happy beneficiaries.
Rotteveel then demonstrated his knack of creating a chance out of nothing, especially against lesser sides, as he got away from his markers with a simple turn flowing into a push-and-run. None could keep up with him, and Subri had the easiest of finishes after Rovers goalie Ding-Bong was drawn out of his area. Jianyong then got his first senior goal, and heartily celebrated with Zulkiflee.
It was the end of Subri's involvement unfortunately, as the striker suddenly came to a halt after bursting forward in a run. This was certainly a bad sign as evidenced from Liehner's immediate concern from the bench, as he gestured wildly for Mirchev to kick the ball out of play so that Subri could be examined. The medics got Subri off the field and play went on, but some of the fans would have felt a sinking feeling as he was quietly replaced by Mohd Firdaus.
Firdaus didn't inspire confidence as he failed to convert from a well-choreographed free-kick, and Rotteveel completed his hat-trick with Hu bagging another as the home side turned nasty, receiving two yellow cards in the final ten minutes.
