Irrepressible Hobson
Eight Minute Hattrick
Hobson wrote himself into Grilled Birds history versus Scorps today when he hit three goals with just four minutes between each of them. Even more incredibly, this was his second hattrick in as many matches.
Grilled looked lethargic from kickoff, organised in defence but unwilling to attack. The first half-hour passed almost without event, as many aimless runs were made by both teams. Scorps could well have taken a shock lead when they were presented with the first clear chance of the game when
Ricard Machado attempted a needless feint in defence.
His bluff was called by Scorp's King-Li, who robbed him of the ball, and Scorps momentarily had a massive four on two advantage in the Grilled penalty area. King-Li sent in a cross ball that was met by Jun-Hao, but the distraction by Tuan-Mu was just enough to cause the header to go off target. Bao-Tam then took a monster goal kick that reached
Tim Hobson three quarters of the way down the field, and Hobson took the ball past both Kun-Fun and Guo-Fang before scoring with a chip.
Four minutes later Hobson again barged through the same two defenders to bang a strong volley past Chuen-Tak. Hau-pai then waved for his players to go defensive, but Hobson was not finished yet. Chiew-Yen was pushed to the ground while jousting for position in the 38th minute, and a harsh penalty decision was given against Scorps. Hobson was only too pleased to take it, and though Cheun-Tak went the right way Hobson had placed the ball out of his reach.
Hobson appeared more subdued in the second half, and Chiew-Yen began to assert himself upfront while Hobson slowly fell back into a supporting role. It was his defence splitting pass that led to Chiew-Yen going up against Cheun-Tak one-on-one. Chiew-Yen had hit the woodwork from much the same situation earlier, and this time he made no mistake, pulling Cheun-Tak to the right before stroking a grounder under him.
Tom Pence followed it up by rising to power in a header as Seng-kar's long cross from the other flank eluded Hobson and Dai-Lin.
Grilled by now were attacking in full flow, but it was to be another twenty minutes before Dai-Lin squandered the next good chance created. It did not matter, though, as
Lan Tuan-Mu, now stationed in the offensive half, won the ball amidst confusion and struck a low shot straight into goal. Chiew-Yen will be disappointed at his missed chances as his header was cleared off the line in the second last minute. Hobson nearly capped an unforgettable day with a fourth goal from the resulting corner, but his attempt looped well wide.
