Kranji Fried
Well Done
The Birds began this campaign as they did the last, with a double-digit hammering in the opening round of the Cup. Sentosa-based Kranji KFC had run into administration some time ago, and Grilled's selection showed little mercy in basting them on their home ground despite their troubles.
It was a long wait for
Dexter Stacey and
Qassem Madaini, but they finally got their competitive debuts weeks after joining up. Player of the Season
Domenik Bögengang was conspicuous seated on the bench, but didn't appear to be taking it badly as he joked with junior forwards Xiuyu and Yonghang.
The pace started off very slowly as Kranji circled their wagons, at least until
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim sounded the horn with a strong run down the right combined with an authoritative strike to the corner. This meant that he had gotten the first goal of the new season, after securing the last of the previous one.
His game following that wasn't as satisfying, as he was frustrated by his teammates' instinct to go for it themselves.
Lin Jungui couldn't be blamed for setting up a shot after Mohd Safri was generous with his defence-splitting pass back into the middle, however, and the local defender collected only the second goal of his Grilled career.
Chow Ying Lee then completed a first-half brace, as he latched onto a botched Lefébure headed effort to turn it in, first-time. He then returned to more conventional methods, showing part-time salesman Haji Abdullah bin Muhammad the ball before pulling it back and sprinting through. Goalie Lim Ting Pin didn't even bother to crouch as Chow bore down on his wide-open goal.
Half-time saw
Alex Fonseca make an appearance for Lefébure, and while he shone in midfield, few exciting attacking moves followed, and U-20 pair Mohd Safri and Chow were then reluctantly pulled off for
Fan Xiuyu and
Tian Yonghang. Their added freshness gave the Grilled offence new life, and Safrinho finally got the match back on track with a well-struck long-range effort.
The heartiest cheers of the day from the away stands were reserved for popular Saudi centreback
Qassem Madaini, though, as the national player kept his wits about him to send the ball into the net after a missed clearance by a Kranji player, thereby earning himself a debut goal. He then had a tap-on for Vukota that should really have been an assist, but unfortnately the recepient's mind was on other things.
There would be a flurry of goals in the final minutes as the home team's stamina gave out, and
Erik Back added a seventh before Safrinho upped his pace and scored another before making one for Xiuyu. Back then capped the meeting with a flourish, recording Grilled's thousandth Cup goal, in their four hundredth competitive win.
