Nommed By Hamsters
Deadeye Darcy
The exhibition game against invited Division Four side Sembawang Hamsters FC descended into a mauling for Grilled, whose reserves were shown up in a brutal first half that saw them let in six goals. The introduction of
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim and
Gleb Dorogan did see the Birds on more equal terms in the second forty-five, but overall it was an unmistakeable victory by the Hamsters, who would be certain promotees but for the presence of an invincible Marina Bay Sands in IV.10.
The Hamsters possess a spine certainly good enough for Division Three, composed of Canadian Louis Merritt and Germas Dennis Pentz and Rudolf Mootz. The trio arrived as trainees within four days of each other, and are all around 26 years of age, making for some incredible unspoken understanding going on.
In contrast, Grilled's local midfield of the day had probably only
Tian Yonghang on their level, with
Lin An Chu and
Dennis Kong just happy to be able to make an appearance. This showed as the Birds generally lacked belief in their forward passes, despite Tian trying to fulfil that role by himself. It wasn't long before Bronisław Słomczewski sprinted past
Sandy Fu to deliver for Pentz to score.
They were not the only ones to be struggling, as
Colby Awyong was hardly convincing in defence either, not least when he simply stopped and allowed Słomczewski past him in the 22nd minute. Unfortunately, there was no cover as he had though, and Rudolf Mootz easily got to the incoming cross first.
Energetic Irish leftback Lee Darcy lashed in a third, before Tian got booked as he tried his hand at tackling. Alessio Dri, Stefan Weinmann and Mścigniew Rogocz then scored in a frantic four minutes, with schoolboy defending leading to a free header off Darcy's corner for the last.
As the Birds trooped off utterly defeated, some of the players seemed to ponder the gulf in ability between them and the regulars. Among them, Bellamoli and Fu would not be back, as they were replaced by Mohd Safri and
Harry Hoy in hopes of a closer contest.
Mohd Safri did make something of a difference as he immediately began threatening in midfield, but it was not until
Gleb Dorogan entered too that the Birds finally had the tools to make things happen. A good spell of possession gave them enough time to move personnel up, and
Walter Ross wound up celebrating what was a fairly scrappy strike, after
Djan Bacelar had been blocked off.
Lee Darcy matched that with a magnificent bending free-kick that left Noubaryan watching, but Mohd Safri would get the last word in. Two days away from the biggest game of the season, the Grilled frontman whetted his appetite with a goal, although some of the Hamsters were adamant that he had used his arm more than his head then.