Barang Tut-Tuts
Marzuki Perk
Cambodian II.2 entrants Barang Tuk-Tuk knocked Grilled Birds out at the semifinal stage of the Golden Trophy, but Grilled were at least in it until the very end. The Birds could hardly complain about the outcome all considered, as former Swedish national star Björn Kraft led Barang in putting up a near-flawless game positionally speaking, while chipping away at Grilled non-stop. This conservative but steady approach was too much for the Birds to bear, without a special spark up there.
Having won seven and drawn one in their latest eight games, it was undeniable that Barang were on a roll, and it was easy to see why looking at their squad: packed with stars such as national youth midfielders Hing Sang, Thai Phann and Bourey Chhorn alongside Kraft, they had literally so many that Hing and Thai could start at fullback, with Chhorn and Mike Jackson making up the central three. That former Chilean U-20 forward Quique Cuello and Cameroon veteran Achille Towa could be regarded as relative weaknesses, reflected just how strong a team this was.
It was then encouraging that Grilled Birds did not immediately seem inferior, although the difference in composure when without the ball was easy to see even for casual observers. There would be some titanic battles between current Cambodian national winger Sambath Soun and
Brian Reddy to come, but Sambath would get one up early on in the ninth minute, as he snuck past Reddy on the outside, before finding Thai Phann on the corner of the six-yard box.
Aw Keng Chuan tried to put himself between ball and goal, but Thai fired hard at the near post, catching
Dimitris Germanakos unawares.
Tian Yonghang had commented beforehand that the Birds would have it hard were Barang allowed to take the lead early, and the head coach's prediction would prove prescient. Above all, Barang's personnel proved extremely proficient in shadowing their Grilled counterparts, and it would take electrifying dribbling by Reddy, to find
Lim An Keng in the 26th minute. Björn Kraft's man-marking would be more effective than Aw's was, unfortunately, and Lim could not get a proper shot off.
Grilled remained in the contest with
Gandhik Chitre in particular playing above his usual standards, and it would take the combined efforts of Hing Sang and Phirun Nak to shut the Number Nineteen down at times. Still, they did contain him, which was more than could be said for the Birds' defence. No-one picked Nak up when he progressed up the pitch over the course of a full minute, and Achille Towa made full use of the extra man, to claim an assist in the 57th.
The Birds continued trying, but there were simply no gaps once they got close enough to the Barang goal.
Chia Kwang Tse would attempt to imposse himself on Bourey Chhorn 68 minutes in, but the veteran knew exactly what Chia was trying, and it would be the Grilled man to be booked for his pains.
Hwang Teck Fu's indifferent form on the ball would not help, as he was unable to hold the ball up with any consistency.
With the minutes draining away, excitement would be restored when
Mohd Marzuki Khairul ramped up into a run with seven minutes remaining, and clipped it past Jakub Przetrawa after an improbable slalom past two defenders. Quique Cuello would extinguish Grilled's nascent hopes with a great finish immediately after, however, and Achille Towa then drove the point home quite literally with his right boot for 4-1.
