Woodlands Rammed
Tian Treble
Budding striker
Tian Yonghang kept on revealing his burgeoning promise as he bagged a second consecutive hat-trick, as Grilled put Woodlands Wellington Football Club to the sword in the third round of the Cup. Fullback
Walter Ross also raised his profile with a good brace.
Woodlands had gotten thus far with a physical approach coupled to good team spirit, with defensive hardman Abd Karim bin Hasyim sent off in their away win at Oceanic_6, before collecting three yellows as they intimidated Eastinct in a 4-1 beating at the Home of the Rams. They would need more than that to stand a chance against Grilled's professionals, though, and Tian rode on his wave of confidence to put a ninth-minute chance away.
Although
Fan Xiuyu, who appeared fully recovered from his injury setback towards the end of last season, put the match effectively out of reach in the 23rd minute with a running header, that didn't dent the hosts' resolve, and bin Hasyim displayed another of the less savoury aspects of his game as he flung himself down inside Grilled's area despite little contact from Grilled captain
Niculae Stanca. That didn't go down well with Stanca, but he had enough self-control to let it go after bin Hasyim was carded.
Stanca was back to his usual sensible self when
Vukota Crkvenjakov got on the wrong end of a plausibly accidental careless barge from the beefy Lin Dazhong, who landed heavily with his studs on the unlucky Vukota's right foot. That had the former Montenegro national defender crumpling to the ground, and he had to be stretchered off nearly in tears.
The loss of one of their senior members affect Grilled's fluency, and
Chan Woon Jin fluffed a great chance after he was left unmarked in the six-yard box, but failed to meet Josefsson's tempting cross. Woodlands could have livened things up further as Azmil bin Zainal got clear of a flat Grilled back four, but Silvera was watching and dashed out to block.
The home team's penchant for roughness had not been diminished by the earlier injury, and forward Mohd Amran bin Abd Jalil could have gotten
Walter Ross off too as he cut the defender down very unnecessarily. Ross calmly dusted himself off and watched as his assailant received the third yellow of the day from his side, and Stanca saw fit to have a short skippers' conversation with his Rams counterpart Mohd Ariffin as the teams walked off for half-time.
Payback came for Ross five minutes after the restart as Safrinho was blatantly obstructed in the box, and gamely offered the penalty to Ross. The Austrian, who has made a disappointing five starts in his more than a season with a Birds, gave hope for a better return with a decent conversion.
All attention shifted back to his younger teammate as Tian completed a hat-trick, showing off some fancy footwork in the process, but Ross would make it a memorable outing as he bent a free-kick into the bottom corner with ten minutes remaining. Stanca finally couldn't resist cheekily standing in front of a Rams free-kick with the result safe, but referee Edesio Goy didn't see the funny side and added him to his book.
