Underpowered Rangers
Langeland On The Mark
Ubin turned out to be an island retreat for Grilled as they thrashed their second island-based opponents, destroying Pulau Ubin Rangers eight-nil. Langeland got the monkey off his back with three sweet goals from open play, with the last one a real beauty. It was a win not without cost, as
Lan Tuan-Mu hobbled out with a persistent knee problem, which will see him miss the home fixture against Herron this weekend.
The Norwegian Langeland had the weight of his hefty price tag hanging around his neck, but he finally ended his atrocious record of 459 minutes without a goal when he ran the ball past Faizal bin Dani in the Rangers endzone. Debutante Israeli winger
Earl Barbour had his compliments for that, for Barbour had torn down the right flank to seek out Langeland with an inviting cross.
Spanish youngster
Antonio Fernández Riviera then contributed with his first two competitive goals for Grilled, after some winging down the left and a cooly converted penalty. It might have been a hat-trick for the lad had his earlier free-kick not bitten the bar, but he was exuberant enough in his celebrations. He did provide an assist for Hjortlind in the 36th minute, before Langeland bullied the ball off Hairil Zamri bin Mustaffa in defence and returned it right into goal.
Langeland will still have something to answer to as he wasted a legitimate chance after the restart, as the tireless Riviera hoisted a comfortable cross in. Faizal bin Dani was left stranded, but Langeland ball-watched to his team-mate's dismay. Leftback
Nui Pakpao scored the sixth after following through on a spilled strike by Hjortlind, but
Nor Suhaimi bin Che Lah then blemished the match by launching himself into a series of pointless tackles that resulted in a sending-off. Minutes later, Lan limped to the sidelines and signalled for a substitution.
Rangers were in no position to profit though, as they were hemmed back for a free-flowing Swiss midfield. Rottman hit one for his comrades when he allowed a short pass from Barbour to run before hammering it into the the near post. Rangers' inferior fitness was starting to tell, and striker Seow Kin-Lun left the game totally spent after diligently chasing the ball for over an hour. Winger Cheng Kwong-Yiu fared little better, left visibly gasping by the pace of Grilled's young Switzers.
All that was left was for Langeland to make an indelible statement, and that he did by stunning Rangers' captain in goal with a flamboyant roundhouse effort that flew in from the side of the penalty area. The last event belonged to Hjortlind though, as he collected another unnecessary yellow card for a optimistic slide in on Man-Leung.
