Dog Days
Thach Up
Moldovan II.4 World Battle opponents Red Dogs_ found
Chad Thach their natural predator, as the Birds Number 22 ripped them for a hat-trick towards a conclusive 6-1 thumping. Granted, this was not all that out there considering that the Red Dogs had lost their last three fixtures in this tournament, but it remained their biggest defeat here to date this season, eclipsing their opening round 1-4 against T&T Pro League challengers Röllipeikko.
On the face of it, the Red Dogs had a starting lineup very much the equal of Grilled's, with 26 year-old Spanish midfielder Gilabèrt Munar featuring alongside Władysław Dendys and Şerban Vîntu. Young Argentine forward Albanos Odizzio had been a reliable force in attack, with it all underpinned by Turkish custodian Nimet Haver. In practice, unfortunately, their insistence on a flowing game utilizing width found no purchase against the Birds' compressive style.
The hosts did have the first official chance after five minutes, from Odizzio bullying
Raúl Himadas into conceding a corner. It went short to Cyril Ferencz, who flicked it instinctively onwards to Albanos Odizzio at the back post... who crashed it powerfully into the base of the upright. Even worse, Grilled broke strongly from the hefty rebound, and
Chad Thach would get his very good day going by slotting it past Haver at the end of his long run.
There would be much panting by Thach and
Mohd Marzuki Khairul after their sprint, but their other teammates would gladly take up the slack.
Paulino Trindade and
Chia Kwang Tse scored within seconds of each other either side of the 14th minute as Cyril Ferencz got lost in the Red Dogs' backline, and it was mostly blind chance that Thach and
Lim An Keng did not stage a rerun seven minutes later, with the Moldovans' defence called into question.
Player-coach Ioan Codru would set them straight with his tactical readjustments from the touchline, and Red Dogs stabilized with a newfound priority on defending. This lasted through half-time, and they would have a purple patch after the restart, with José Bazaga's excellent man-marking baiting
Chia Kwang Tse into a yellow card.
Chad Thach came back to the fore four minutes after that, though, as an expansive
Paulino Trindade cross was met on the fly with an exaggerated volley.
Four-nil it was, then, and Grilled Birds were back pushing the pace.
Ha Qicai was next through as Trindade release Marzuki on the left, and the Hong Kong skipper cleverly let the ball run past him before putting it easily past the wrongfooted Haver. Şerban Vîntu would be cautioned after several minor fouls, and Ha's speculative but ultimately overhit lob in the 71st minute presaged
Chad Thach's rather more staid hat-trick goal, five minutes on.
It was not quite over for the Red Dogs, who threw all they had into salvaging some pride on their seventh kick-off. Thomas Brustmann's full-tilt run had none of the Grilled players wanting a piece of him, and after Peter Preyer took over for the final stretch, Władysław Dendys rounded
Raúl Himadas from the other direction for a well-earned consolation. There would be petty bookings for Preyer and
Brian Reddy as the wingers clashed twice towards the end, but no more goals.
