Stingless Scorps
Hung Hang
Scorps provided little exercise for a Grilled team bolstered by
Tom Pence on the left wing, a problematic position where the American excelled and could possibly have claimed for himself with his refreshing swashbuckling style.
Tim Hobson fairly brimmed with confidence with his outrageous chip after a unusually long run-up for a free-kick. Scorps goalie Chew Chuen-Takhad shuffled to the far post in the closing seconds as Hobson had his eyes there, and scrambled back desperately to keep the shot out but only got himself tangled in the netting.
Gao Seng-kar, sent off against the Buggers, was on the receiving end today, having the stuffing kicked out of him by Scorps' hard man An King-Li. King-Li was shown the yellow card belatedly after Seng-kar was left in a pile on the grass. Prompt medical treatment revived the victim, and he opted to stay on.
Chen Chiew-Yen was played onside by Guo-Fang after Seng-kar delayed the final pass, and the striker took one quick look at Chuen-Tak to ascertain his stand before sending a lob in. A foul in the box earned Grilled a penalty in the dying minutes of the half, and Hobson barely converted it as he struck a rather poor specimen into the middle. Chuen-Tak had barely moved, but was falling back and could not get his leg to the ball.
A clean-cut three points for Grilled was interrupted by
Hang Bao-Tam's ugly fall after a routine catch. Bouncing off his own defender, Hang impacted his knee and couldn't stand. After some minutes of consultation, Balenciaga ended his warm-up and ran in to take over. Hobson was up for another hat-trick, but Scorps had his measure and kept him out of sight of goal, even as
Tom Pence was delivering tantalising crosses. Hobson got booked for pushing an opponent away from his throw-in. An King-Li got his just desserts when he got a blow in his ribs after an illegal jump in on Sole to contest a header, necessitating a replacement with Jae-Jin, their only registered sub.
