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| FIXTURE HISTORY |
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| Season 91 | L | 1 - 2 | Tournament (Group Phase) | | Season 90 | L | 1 - 4 | Tournament (Group Phase) |
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Cavalier Conquest
Third Time Lucky
The Birds had lost twice to Serie A club Manchester Cavallo in the Dominion International Cup over the past two seasons, so today's prevailing in the knockout stages of the King of Football Cup came against the pale. Few could claim that the Birds were unworthy of it, for all that, as they matched - and then exceeded - all that one of the best sides in Italy threw at them, for ninety minutes.
The sunny weather made for excellent footballing conditions, if again without
Chia Kwang Tse as the Grilled midfielder's form remained suspect. Cavallo had for their part made plenty of moves in the transfer market since their 2-1 victory in the last meeting, with former internationals Fred Hagmar, Erdal Racih, Eric Jacquat and Aureliano Salazar all joining for about five million apiece. Swedish legend Hagmar has since moved on to Norway's Aker Brygge Monsters, with Racih and Salazar starting in defence and attack respectively for today.
For all the transient nature of the Cavallo team, experienced Dutch head coach Gied van Eeghen had them operating as a unit, if with some eyebrow-raising choices such as his overloading his right side. It was difficult to question his tactical acumen from how Russian veteran Anatoliy Malin sliced his way past
Mohd Marzuki Khairul in the ninth minute, just in time for new signing Martin Fretheim to rack up an assist.
Well, Grilled could create too, or so
Chad Thach must have thought, as he made his own entry 16 minutes in. Erdal Racih came in with an impeccably-timed lunging tackle, but Thach released it a fraction of a second before, for the on-fire
Raúl Himadas to chip home. Indonesian legend Kusnadi Hutasoit then looked distinctly vulnerable as Himadas lashed a flat corner inside the very next minute, as he missed the catch with
Lim An Keng backing into him. The referee didn't see anything wrong with that, and
Ha Qicai caught the ball on the bounce full-on with his right boot, cracking it in off the far post!
That was 2-1 with the Birds' defenders stealing the show, but Cavallo were just getting warmed up too. Their age might have gotten badly exposed in their 0-4 league defeat to milantriste on Sunday, but this Grilled team were nowhere close to the current Serie A leaders in terms of an integrated defence; Himadas was left behind when Azim Burla switched over in the 31st minute, and the Turkish defender exhibited good composure to lure
Radomil Marcol out before shooting.
Raúl Himadas has won himself a reputation for being better on the attack than at the back, and he would build on it with a beautiful half-volley to give Grilled the lead again, in the 36th minute. A yellow card for Erdal Racih then provided the needed distraction for Canadian star Aaron Payne to level on a straightforward rush four minutes later, before wasted chances by Gottfried Stangl and then
Gandhik Chitre concluded an action-packed half.
The crowd could hardly wait for play to resume, which it did with Tian again throwing
Aw Keng Chuan on for
Ha Qicai. It was Manchester Cavallo that seized the initiative after the change, with Aw struggling to adapt to the pace, and they would retake the lead in the 54th minute after Denis Novo filtered into the centre to whip it low past Marcol. Salazar then passed up a big opportunity to nail a fifth as Fretheim slung it to him in the next minute, and Van Eeghen soon put Andrea Marcotulli on for Aaron Payne, in a bid to lock this up.
It was Cavallo's turn to have a substitution backfire on them, with Marcotulli's mobility soon proving a liability even compared to Payne. While the Italian veteran's distribution was on point, and he could outthink most with ball at feet, there was simply no catching players once they got away from him.
Hwang Teck Fu made the most of this in the 64th minute, and his timely release to
Darko Andrović coming around the left would have it at 4-4, with all to play for.
The match was understandably unbearably tense now, what with the next goal feeling like it could be the winner, and it was Cavallo to make the first move with a concerted passing move through the centre in the 68th. Everything appeared to fall into place with Himadas stumbling as he tried to get to Aureliano Salazar, but the finish was too close to
Radomil Marcol, who put up a strong left hand to palm the shot aside.
Aw Keng Chuan would complete the mopping-up, by lashing the loose ball into touch with all his might.
There was still little indication about how this game would turn, and the commmentators were already discussing extra time when
Mohd Marzuki Khairul got tripped up about five yards outside the penalty area. All eyes would be on
Raúl Himadas as he took his time considering what would be his hat-trick goal... only to lift it to the right side of the box, where a waiting
Lim An Keng nodded it down for
Chad Thach to put his laces through.
