Sonics Slugged
Chow Off The Mark
Grilled's worrying goal drought in the league was washed away in fine fashion at The Cooking Pot, as all the pieces finally clicked, and they swamped the Sentosa sonics in a very merry Boxing Day fixture, curing their fans of any residual hangovers they may have had in the process.
With head coach
Han Lik-Tsun still very much in the line of fire, the Birds needed a memorable showing to buy him some time, and they came up with a Christmas special. The outlook wasn't all too good as the Sentosa sonics had hinted at their potential by upsetting CharlesCheesePie the week before, with Slovakian forward Miroslav Bobuľský outstanding, and it was likely that some of the jittery home faithful would have settled for a point.
In any case, they had waited over two hundred minutes for a league goal, and The Pot broke out in a mixture of exhilaration and sheer relief when
Yvan Lefébure's left boot connected squarely with a rebound, and propelled it past Sonics goalkeeper Zlatko Boev. Lefébure may have shown himself to be a nasty piece of work at times, but all was definitely forgotten as soon as the ball crossed the line.
That critical goal gave the Grilled players extra legs, and their crisp interplay soon had the visitors bamboozled. The way Grilled were playing, it was only a matter of time before they found the net again, and so they did in the 31st minute as
Domenik Bögengang shook off Sonics' German centreback Frédéric Menzinger to put the Birds up, two-nil. Vukota nearly got it to three as he cranked out a hit towards the top corner, and was narrowly denied by Boev.
There was genuine cheer around the stadium as the half-time whistle went, and the break didn't do much to alter either team's mood, judging from the players' expressions as they returned to take their places on the field.
Kyou-Chull Kim joked around with
Anders Josefsson as the latter came on for him, and the Birds got right down to business after that.
It was clear who the Grilled fans most wanted to see on the scoresheet as the Birds continued pummeling their opponents, and their wish was granted when
Chow Ying Lee peeled off Abud in the 57th minute. Menzinger pressured Chow into a relatively weak effort, but it was still too well-placed for Boez to stop. The goal should go some way towards persuading the U-20 manager into restoring him to the squad.
Chow's national fortunes were in stark contrast to Mohd Safri's, as the Grilled prodigy had just become the toast of the town with a stunning 88th minute winner against Thailand on Friday. Mohd Safri had well and truly been freed of his early-season blues, and there was no stopping his spectacular strike, taken on the fly.
The departure of Sonics captain Menzinger due to injury probably helped, as replacement Leow An Han appeared short on match fitness. Quah, who had come on for
Erik Back, supplied the assist, and the past and likely future Grilled legends celebrated their success with a touching high-five.
The stands were rocking by now, but the Grilled fans still found some extra voice when Bögengang got through to make it 5-0, slowing melting away the club's unsightly goal deficit. Lefébure then headed home from a corner kick, and
Ronny Behr could even afford to grin after rushing a shot onto the post from point-black range in the 80th minute; the supporters were understanding, belting out a hearty rendition of
"Tis' The Season To Be Giving".
