Parsib Problems
Hu Can Do
Grilled survived the mother of all scares against Division Five club parsib, who nearly condemned the Birds to their earliest elimination from the Cup ever. Grilled will point to an uninspired team selection, but the midfield duo of Branbilla and MacKinnon, who should have been sufficient to guarantee the result, performed far below their usual high standards.
Parsib had been taken to extra time by the Singapore Donkeys in the previous round, and exhibited no great steel as
Hu Jianyong turned Abdul Samad bin Yahaya inside out in the second minute. Goalkeeper Chua How Su stood his ground, and caught Hu's average effort well.
Grilled tried again with a tricky free-kick later on, and
Ulf Hjortlind squared it for MacKinnon to smash. The move must have been far too obvious, though, as the entire defensive wall converged on the Scotsman's shot.
The hosts then scored against the run of play, with Lau Jian Ho pulling off a complex stepover that left
Zulkiflee bin Othman totally confused. He still had to beat the onrushing Bao-Tam, and did so by slotting the ball into the gap between the goalie and the near post.
Grilled were stunned, and parsib doubled their lead within two minutes. The match had been stopped to allow Abdul Samad bin Yahaya treatment, and Seng-Huat got his legs caught together after the home team gave the ball back. Ng Kay Hin gave no quarter, and ran with the ball for all he was worth straight towards the Grilled goal, where he sent the ball past Bao-Tam.
The Birds were staring at a very embarassing defeat, but at least they had the time to change things.
Ulf Hjortlind nearly got them back into it near-instantly with a wonderful free-kick that left Chua How Su completely rooted to the ground, but it spun to brush by the post at the last moment.
Loud noises were heard from the visitors' dressing room at half-time, and Grilled came out of the tunnel with fire in their bellies. Once again,
Hu Jianyong was in the thick of things, and his clever one-two went directly to
Zulkiflee bin Othman, who was more than relieved to see his scuffed attempt bounce past Chua.
Despite that, Grilled still needed at least one more goal, and they became more and more panicky as Parsib defended in depth and were more than happy to waste time. That vital goal finally arrived with ten minutes to go, as Jianyong flew in to head Chuancheng's winding cross, and was followed by a celebration that went beyond what is usually expected of a second round Cup match.
They might have done the job in normal time, but the outstanding Chua How Su prevented a characteristic rammed grounder from MacKinnon from going in, with a one-handed stop. Parsib were by now fading, however, and the hardworking Mohd Syamsuri bin Yusof, who had been chasing shadows for most of the game, finally couldn't last the pace and had to be taken off.
The hosts were well and truly drained by the final whistle, and it was only a matter of time before Grilled broke through in extra time. Chuancheng supplied the goal as he made his way past a couple of winded defenders, and Jianyong won the tie with a conversion from three metres out.
