Dance Down
Utterly Chaned
There would be no rest for Grilled Birds as they dove right into the 64-team Dominion International Cup competition, where they had been drawn into Group J together with English II.3 representatives Liverpool Port Divers FC, and Puerto Rican clubs A.C. Milan Scorpions and Flamenco Beach Kickers. The latter would be their opponents for today having just promoted back into their top-level LPR league, having won their last seven straight including a penalty shootout win over TS Resistance in the qualifiers yesterday.
That might have taken more out of Flamenco than they might have thought, as their Hungarian head coach Martin Lukács set them up in their usual 3-5-2, emphasizing the width of the pitch. Sweeper Marcel Rhomberg would float right to cover
Lim An Keng, with forwards Maurice Díaz and Ion Dunăreanu tempting
Ha Qicai and
Aw Keng Chuan to the outside whenever possible.
Alas, their well thought out gameplan would be immediately thrown into disarray, as Grilled forced Rhomberg to head it behind, as they rushed the Flamenco box in numbers on kick-off. After some discussion with Aw,
Chan Ze Han trotted up to take the corner kick, and this had
Lim An Keng score on his first touch - with solid forehead contact as he ran towards the near post to shake off his marker.
Little would Flamenco suspect that the 40 year-old Chan was just getting started, as he resumed his accustomed post at the top of the Grilled attack, and nonchalently swept home
Chad Thach's eleventh minute through pass without a second look. Argentine goalkeeper Yandel Musladini appeared shaken, but his distribution remained excellent, and one particular long ball out to the left flank had former Millinocket Moose star Bryce Cummings go clear, three minutes on.
Ha Qicai stayed close to him, however, and Cummings put it narrowly wide.
Grilled kept up with what they knew best, which was getting it to Chan, and the Number Eleven was living proof that age was just a number. What he had lost in pace, he made up for with foresight and technique, as he spotted Adrian Lee hesitating when recovering in the 23rd minute. Inserting himself in a flash, Chan found the gap between Muslandini and his right post in a jiffy. It would be a hat-trick soon enough, as
Mohd Marzuki Khairul nodded it in Chan's general direction, and he would lift it to the far side of goal running on instinct.
Bryce Cummings would be carded bumping Marzuki to the ground after the Grilled midfielder had released the ball on that last move, and the American winger would be sent off 38 minutes in, after an ill-advised altercation with
Hwang Teck Fu following shirt-grabbing on both ends. Flamenco were close to losing it with Džiugas Kapšas also booked for roughing
Brian Reddy up, and it was fortunate for them that half-time was looming.
Flamenco came out of the interval much calmer - and better, and they would at least not have to worry about Chan any longer, as he got replaced by
Joe Reece. The contrast between Chan's quiet class and Reece's oft-ineffective action-packed style could barely be starker, and might explain why the Welshman is having difficulty finding takers. Reece did play Lim through cleverly in the 63rd, but the lob came back off the bar, and Flamenco profited on Rhomberg spotting Mirco Andrich off and running. An incredible sixty-yard pass found its mark, for a worthy solo goal.
The consolation wouldn't last long, and it would be 6-1 within three minutes, with
Gandhik Chitre left with a clear run after Carlos Hernán Núñez failed to cut a searching pass out. The Puerto Ricans were definitely losing interest here, but
Chad Thach was not about to complain, as he pulled the trigger on the edge of the penalty area on the next attack, and saw it whistle past Musladini.
