All Bound Up
Home Draw Again
Grilled's worrying inability to beat their opponents at home continued for a third time, as Brutus Dominion Spartacus Maxima Futbol Club managed the same 2-2 result that CharlesCheesePie had obtained at The Cooking Pot a week ago. Tellingly, in all the five matches in which the opposition have scored against Grilled this season, they have struck first.
The Birds have yet to beat BDSM FC, having been kept to the same 2-2 scoreline last season, with the visitors determined to keep that distinction going with a couple of big-name signings. Italian veteran Giancarlo Palma was cleared out to Swiss side Lokomotiv Langstrasse for under a million dollars, to be replaced by highly-rated 26 year-old local playmaker Toh Ting Loong, who is on a S$240 000 a week contract. There was still enough left over to recruit former Joker 9 defender Azrul Amri bin Senin for S$5.4 million, and both predictably made their debuts against Grilled.
BDSM FC again planned a soak-and-strike strategy for their travels, and bin Senin took his place next to Rosman Bampe in the middle, as they brought an all-local squad to the Pot. Grilled obliged by going on the offensive, but made no gains as national forward Lee Siong Nie sounded a warning with a stylish 27th minute effort, twisting on the run, that
Dexter Stacey turned around the post.
The Birds didn't heed that warning as they continued searching for the first goal, and were finally punished by homegrown trainee Phang Liang Woon, who found himself on the right side of
Lin Jungui as BDSM FC broke down the middle in the 31st minute. Lin understandably decided to stick closer to Lee in the three-on-two that ensued, but that left an opening for the young Phang, who picked up his first ever league goal.
Grilled at least were used to being behind by now, but
Chow Ying Lee must be bemoaning his lack of nerve in front of the goal, as he dallied for too long after getting into a great position, and got closed off. To make it worse,
Gleb Dorogan made one of his old brainfarts after the ball was passed back to him to restart the attack; the new captain watched in horror as his pass across midfield was picked off by Lee Siong Nie, who outpaced Madaini to make it 2-0 for BDSM FC. Yu Zuhui could have put it beyond Grilled's reach in the dying minutes of the half, but for a magnificent stop by a dexterous Stacey.
There was silence in the stands as the half-time whistle went, and
Han Lik-Tsun didn't wait too long to make changes, replacing Josefsson with
Yvan Lefébure soon after the restart with Grilled making precious little headway. That brought about an immediate effect, as Lefébure racked up an assist on his first touch, volleying the ball forward for
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim to chase on a throw-in.
Mohd Safri's faultless finish gave his teammates a much-needed boost, but they had to survive another scare as Toh Ting Loong hit the post on a short corner. Fortunately for Grilled, Toh appeared not to be fully used to BDSM FC's system yet, which allowed the hosts to at least maintain possession without too much trouble in midfield.
They were still a goal down, however, but not for long as Chow was bundled over by a BDSM FC defender some ten metres from the penalty area. Some fans may have forgotten about
Domenik Bögengang's prowess from free-kicks, seeing as he has had little opportunity to demonstrate it lately, but they were about to get a refresher course as the German gave Teo Keng Wan no chance at all with a beautiful curler into the corner.
Han sensed another possible comeback win, and put
Rosendo Chinchay and
Edvaldo Mourão on for his defenders going into the last ten minutes, but BDSM FC were prepared for that and protected their point professionally.
