Road Of No Return
Chip Off The Old Field
Fast-rising English Premier side Red N Blue Return revealed just why they had made it to the top division from the fifth in a mere ten seasons, as they put six past
Dimitris Germanakos in Grilled's Golden Trophy swansong - and without even trying much. The Birds were left picking at scraps, but not even that came off with Return's defence clearing up when it mattered.
The sight of Return skipper Eoin Cavendish leading out a collection of luminaries was sufficient to remind the Birds that they were up against something special, with bearded former England international Calum Chipperfield looking every bit a menace up against the well-worn
Bhavya Panigrahi. Midfielder Richard Hubbard, right winger Dennis Barkley and centreback Matthew Laurin also all possessed international caps in this all-English lineup, which had so valiantly come up through the ranks together.
That they were all hitting their mid-thirties together had prominent pundits assert that it was now or never for Return to finally win a major trophy, but from how they pushed the pace from the starting pistol, they might not have to worry about losing their fire anytime soon. Grilled's budding midfield trio of Thach, Chia and Lim might be over a decade younger than their immediate counterparts, but they were not able to prevail in raw metres covered - and it got really bad, when the experience and skill came in.
Return, then, made it look real easy as they put Gary Gibson through for the opener after but five minutes, reflecting the gulf in true class between the teams today; Dean Wulf had only to prod it forward almost lazily after several crisp passes had carved the reinforced Grilled backline up, to find Gibson unattended. Even
Egemen Dinçer Ferzan's attempted reprisal in the twelfth minute had a sting in the tail, with Return taking the Birds apart methodically on the very succinct counter, which had Matthew Laurin go all the way for 2-0.
The rest of the half had Return absolutely lording it over their Singaporean hosts, also on the defensive end with
Orest Tokarz made to look small for once, by Grant Atkins - though Atkins did cop a yellow putting the Pole in his place, in the 21st minute. Chipperfield's dominance over Panigrahi would make its mark six minutes on as he polished off a great run from the left, with Wulf matching his run perfectly to Hubbard's through pass in the 41st. That made four for Return already, with few signs of slowing.
Return had saved the best for last - at least before the break - as Grant Atkins executed a breathtaking bicycle kick on Billy Tuckfield's searching flat cross with four minutes to go. While it nearly caught
Aw Keng Chuan's head clean off too, it just didn't seem right to protest the goal, from how exquisitely choreographed the entire move was. Notably, the Birds players hardly looked perturbed as the came off the pitch, likely as they recognized how superior their opponents were in actuality.
Mohd Marzuki Khairul and
Gilbert Webb went on for Chia and a completely outmatched Panigrahi respectively, and probably did better - although how much of that was due to Return taking their game down several notches, could be debated. They did help keep Return from creating any more clear chances until
Ibnou Balde replaced
Orest Tokarz after 60 minutes, which also had the English club start moving through the gears again.
A sustained build-up from the back had Eoin Cavendish try getting past Thach, which he managed with his momentum, but his snap effort once inside the box was a couple of yards astray. The Birds were creating some discomfort for once now, which had Hubbard booked for a late challenge on Lim in the 65th, and then
Joe Reece finally calling on Neil Bentley with a fierce knuckball drive. Reece did well to follow up on his own shot as Bentley could only parry, but he couldn't get it past the goalie on the second try either.
Germanakos was not above some of the more nitty-gritty side of goaltending himself, as he saved Cavendish's next try, a powerful downwards header - and even managed to hold on to it. There was nothing to be done when Chipperfield volleyed magnificently to his top left corner in injury time, however, and
Gilbert Webb's own go at getting to
Federico Parada's inbound cross in the dying seconds, would not come off either.
