Sohaji Seven
Teo Takes One
Visitors from Cairo, Sohaji, put Grilled's rusty reserves to the sword with a 3-7 drubbing at The Cooking Pot, though assistant coach Luis Alcántara should have little complaints as the trainees were not short on effort, but were let down by a lack of composure where it mattered.
Sohaji were practised at pressing through the middle whenever they could, crowding that area of the pitch, a habit that Grilled should be extremely used to. What they were not prepared for was how quickly Sohaji got up to speed, and conceded after just five minutes, with Valerio Santamaria getting in after fullback Jeffrey De Meue took a sacrifice yellow.
Grilled looked lost in the 11th minute when Etienne Driesen inserted himself between
Hung Wee Li and
Colby Awyong with neither eager to challenge for the ball, and followed up by lashing a half-volley past
Hovaness Noubaryan. This predicated the start of a recovery, with
Li Boon Boon at full strech to turn
Teo Yong Yau's groundbound cross in, before
Neo Da Teck's willingness to take men on cumulated in a sensational individual equaliser.
The Birds were unable to keep it going, though, and Sohaji retook the initiative, very nearly reclaiming the lead with a goalmouth melee. They did do so five minutes later, as Grilled's lackluster defence was so easily undone by a simple pass-and-go, with Basil Farisi initiating and finishing the move.
The Egyptians strengthened their hold on the game in the second half, with Chaime Chilla and Archibald Drehbrücke scoring in such wonderful fashion that some of the home support found the grace to applaud. Of course, they reserved their best for their own, as when
Krishnan Adabala kept his feet to pull one back in the 61st minute despite eating a shove in the back as he ran through.
Sohaji were too disciplined to let Grilled back into it from such a position, especially after the hardworking
Teo Yong Yau went out through a strained thigh, inflicted from overextending himself in an effort to change directions too quickly while defending a free-kick, which Jan Nierychlewski put in anyway.
Anthony Nolan, a day past his eighteenth birthday, was raring to impress on his first appearance for the senior team, but found an impact hard to make with Sohaji holding all the cards. He had barely found his station when Sadik Khuldi made it 3-7, and the score stayed that way till the end.
