No Joking Around
Nafuzi Power
The third-ever meeting between Grilled and Geylang mainstays Joker 9 ended in an exhilarating 7-4 win for the Jokers, whereas the two Cup matches between the sides had been split. Former Dodogado Number Nine Mohd Nafuzi bin Aziz was all the difference, as Joker 9 miraculously recovered from going three under in the first ten minutes, to score seven in unbroken succession.
There was no doubt that the Birds would go for adventure yet again, and
Niculae Stanca had no qualms about using the tournament as an arena to wean
Gleb Dorogan back up to speed. On the visitors' side, they kept to much the same side that narrowly lost to Deinos, but with an improved defensive unit introducing former national defender Mohd Rosedy Rambli.
Mohd Nafuzi was certainly one of the big draws, having already shown his cutting edge with a hat-trick then, but the Birds stepped on the accelerator outright for once. The spectators had barely settled in when
Woon Shun An lumbered through, to continue where he left off Sunday.
Low Aik Jia's reputation for being threatening when fresh soared to new heights, as he gave the impression of being everywhere at once. Blazing in from both flanks, the impetuous winger topped his runs with two equally rapid shot, just managing to beat Mexican goalie Edson Magallón each time.
Lesser sides would have broken under such an onslaught, but being three down didn't deter Joker in the least. The Birds certainly didn't look stable at all in defence, with neither
Hilal Bakhtiar nor
Ling Fuquan particularly disciplined on the day. Indeed, Bakhtiar was completely out of it when Xiong Kunqi rushed past in the 12th minute, before the Birds could consolidate.
Xiong, signed back from Germany for a bargain S$4 million, went on to upstage Low's heroics, as he bullied the Birds' defence into submission. After Victor Meda caught Noubaryan out with a cheeky chip, Xiong fed strike partner Mohd Nafuzi bin Aziz not once but twice, and even converted another on his own, all before half-time.
The Grilled fans went from the heights of joy to utter despair in that half-hour, not helped by Mohd Nafuzi making a somewhat rude gesture at them after his equalising goal, which was missed by the referee. The Birds had little else to complain about, though, as they were simply lax.
Xiong carried on with his one-man rampage after the break, and could have had his hat-trick had Ling not recovered to clear off the line in time. He only tailed off after getting booked for a stiff bump on Dorogan, but Grilled didn't get back in it regardless, with Magallón making an exceptional save off
Chow Ying Lee.
The Birds did pull themselves together, but it was for naught as horrible defending allowed Joker to get into the clear. Nobody tracked Ang Pin Jing when he raced through for the sixth goal, before Mohd Nafuzi staked a claim to the tournament Golden Boot by robbing Low on the edge of the box.
Ling Fuquan did finish off the scoring business with a mighty strike in the 85th minute, but few held any expectation of a recovery long before then.
