Cheese Moved
Nervy Run-in
The Birds were narrowly defeated 2-1 by hosts CharlesCheesePie, who dictated the proceedings throughout at See Mee Lan Park. Grilled were clearly looking for a draw as they relied on their depth in defence, but it was not sufficient against a hugely experienced forward trio that boasts well over a century of goals each, and three former local U-20 midfielders.
Evidently content to get past this fixture without too much fanfare, Grilled returned to heavy defence a week after all-out attack worked for them, which frustrated CCP at the beginning. With ten men behind the ball, they found it hard to get in close, and 30 year-old ex-international Ng Wee Kiong was reduced to sounding a warning from distance.
Grilled found themselves unable to pass their way out, however, and it was not long before the first mistake happened.
Walter Ross got left on the outside as Italian veteran Giuseppe Bottino made his move, and Vukota couldn't stop either the slippery customer or the incoming pass, which Bottino plinked into the net.
Tian Yonghang's competitiveness then got the better of him once again, as he refused to pull out of a challenge despite having no chance of reaching the ball before CCP goalie Bernie Vollaers. The Dutchman was clipped in the chest, and Tian was surrounded by Vollaers' angry teammates in an instant. Thankfully, good sense prevailed, and the referee defused the situation by immediately booking Tian. Vollaers eventually had to retire, with Austrian defender Sebastian Schmidt in as a makeshift goalkeeper.
Grilled would not get a chance to test him as they were sent running around in vain, and after a wonderful stop by captain
Dexter Stacey against Zulharisan bin Mamud, he was beaten for the second time in the game by Ng, who again came in on the weaker left side.
There were many near misses but little that was especially exciting as the home team continued to throw everything at Grilled, with Quirze Sans coming close on at least two instances.
Qassem Madaini finally shook up the match a bit in the 73rd minute by blasting a free-kick past an untrained Schmidt, after a rare counterattack was ended by a foul.
The full comeback never looked likely, however, as that reducer was clearly an aberration, and Grilled were fortunate not to fall further behind when Bottino's close-ranged effort was swiped wide by Stacey.
