First Tournament
Second Half Wow
A see-sawing duel between Grilled Birds and Edbe FC in the two clubs' first ever official tournament match ended in the Birds' favour, in an exhilarating ninety minutes that saw no less than eleven goals. Little heed was paid to defence in the historic Monday night match, but the spectators were only too pleased with the scoring glut.
Grilled deployed their regulars in this opening fixture of the SCC (Individual) four-team competition, with Arcturules and Heaven Skys the other participants. Edbe FC, whom Grilled have not encountered since their single season together in II.2, have not been slacking off either, roaring back from III.1 to establish a foothold in II.4.
Despite the wealth of game-changers on the pitch, it was the referee who decided the timing of the opener, when he adjudged
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim to have been unfairly impeded, an offence not ordinarily called in the penalty area.
Paolo Iten cared not as he did his duty from the spot, waiting for former national custodian Pang Xuanjing to commit himself.
The visitors were no slouches, and drew level in the 19th minute through German winger Gregor Anders, who left
Zhu Changchun behind with a swift turn of pace. Zhu, embarrassed, redoubled his efforts and got his own back within four minutes, bursting down the left to snipe past Pang.
This break-and-chase continued, with longtime Belgian wingback Pierre-André Maton bending a free-kick in at the near post, current main hotshot
Chow Ying Lee lifting the Grilled support with a dropping half-volley to give Grilled the lead for the third time, before Maton equalised once more with a raid down the middle.
Edbe FC got the last word in the first half, with Spanish forward Eduardo Rodal carving the Grilled centrebacks apart with a bulldozing run, and they were certainly the more buzzed team when the half-time whistle went, having gone from being behind for most of the game, to securing the advantage at the midway point.
The Birds might have so easily gotten discouraged, but they emerged from the tunnel a completely changed team. It has to be wondered how much of it could be attributed to French midfielder
Yvan Lefébure, who replaced
Lin Jungui, and laid claim to the supersub role by scoring minutes within his arrival, just like against newbies on Sunday. This time, it was a collected header off a corner kick.
Grilled pounded at Edbe with an intensity not achieved in the first half, and a close miss by
Tian Yonghang was followed by a late tackle by Joonas Nurmi as the homegrown technician moved through the gears. Tian buried it at the far post despite being covered in the 62nd minute, and as the opponents fell into disarray,
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim surged through to make it 6-4 with none of the defenders wanting to touch him in the box.
Qassem Madaini played it safe after his entry for Tzonkov, and actively slowed the match down from his vantage point at the back. Grilled did manage another through
Chow Ying Lee, before Maton got booked trying to inspire Edbe to a response.
