Pedigree Tells
Classy Finishes
The reserves were run over in a test run against former Ecuadorian Cup winners McLaren Mercedes, currently fifth in the Campeonato Ecuatoriano, despite staging an admirable rearguard action throughout much of the first half. Native midfielder Paúl Montero was the man of the match, as his predilection towards drifting wide right brought much headache to the Birds' backline.
Standing out in their change strip of white with a vertical red-and-blue off-centered stripe, McLaren's cosmopolitan side set up for a counterattacking game, and Grilled could not help but bite on the bait. Montero made himself noticed in the eleventh minute when he suddenly switched tack and bulldozed a path through the middle, and only quick thinking by
Hovaness Noubaryan kept his effort out.
Grilled did have their moments, key among them
Neo Da Teck nearly managing to pass the ball into goal after a kind bounce from a long hit upfield fooled the defence. All said, the visitors deserved to go into the lead, and that happened in the 27th minute as 36 year-old Swiss striker Quirin Säuberli chipped Noubaryan from the edge of the box.
That spelt the beginning of a strong finish to the first half by the Birds, as Johan Stenlund saw no way to stop an accelerating
Li Boon Boon other than cutting him down, for which he was fortunate to stay on the pitch. A timely equaliser came from a corner, as Grilled's defensive leaders combined;
Hilal Bakhtiar got it to
Colby Awyong on the far side, who stiffened his neck and followed through to record his first goal for the club.
Bakhtiar might even have put Grilled in front the very next minute, after both
Tang Hengcai and
Neo Da Teck ran over the free-kick, confusing the McLaren wall, which had parted by the time Bakhtiar shovelled a screamer at goal. Spanish veteran Álvaro Ramos was well-beaten, but it ended up grazing the crossbar.
18 year-old Chicken Wings graduate
Aden Abu-Abdel will hope to follow in Liew Soon Ting's footsteps after the latter parlayed a month's stint with the reserves into a professional contract, even wearing Liew's Number 51 shirt when he took over from
Neo Da Teck. He certainly did not fail for want of trying, and might have won a penalty on another day when he was tripped by Ramos after pushing the ball past the goalie, but referee Gerhardt Dunlop ruled his intentions too transparent.
By then, Grilled were already back behind thanks to Turkish winger Evren Nuhbe handing them a taste of their own medicine, as Grilled's defensive wall moved too far to the side, allowing Nuhbe to take the shortest path to the net, surprising Noubaryan with the sheer power behind the strike. Uddin did give a penalty after Tang complained of having his shirt tugged, but Bakhtiar snatched at it and sent it the wrong side of the post.
It might have been unfair on the visitors had they been denied victory after their domination, and they made sude of it in the 85th minute through trainee wingback Edgar Quiroz, who picked up on a loose ball after
Teo Yong Yau's couldn't keep his footing upon reaching it. His longtime youth teammate Orlando Molina had just been withdrawn after cutting his head on
Wardi Azhari's before that, though Molina was well enough to cheer the goal while being stretchered into the tunnel.
