Yorba Reprieve
Aw Lays On Pain
The Birds took some pressure off their head coach with a good 6-2 triumph over Dutch IV.50 opposition Yorba Linda FC, perhaps better known for their part in founding the current South African Premier League champions, Bodie Golddiggers. Yorba had however recently just divested 25 year-old Estonian forward Illimar Kalvo to Sweden's brp for a shade over S$11 million, following Manfred Dankner's own S$6.9 million move to Canada's Scarborough Wanderers FC mid-August. In turn, they had welcomed Spanish Number Eleven Txema Alberola fresh off his winning the Italian V.77 with Forti come leoni, for some S$9.7 million.
Alberola would start at left forward today alongside South African stars Frank Kelly and Atul Marathe, with Kelly already capped 23 times for the national team, and garnered an U21 Africa Cup silver medal with the youth side. Yorba were not wanting for big names elsewhere either with Lebanese midfielder Waali Khodor and Finnish sweeper Jussi Pesonen for example also having considerable reputations, and Dutch goalkeeper Terence Kardolus having commanded a S$14.25 million price tag when he moved from Czech club FK Napajedlo some eleven seasons back.
It would be Grilled to show up Yorba's expansive 3-4-3, however, in making the most of their extra man in central midfield.
Mohd Marzuki Khairul had a lot to prove after being dropped in recent weeks, and he went some way towards it with his incisive dribbling early on, going as far as to skin Rowan Droge in the fifth minute from the edge of the penalty area. His second touch got away from him a little, sadly, and Kardolus managed to pounce on it.
The Birds always looked like scoring from how they controlled the ball in the Yorba half despite Marzuki's disappointment, and it happened in the 13th minute from
Aw Keng Chuan's enterprising run onto
Raúl Himadas' forward lob, with the finish hitting the top of the net. It was 2-0 21 minutes in as
Chad Thach connected solidly with a stray Himadas corner that went longer than expected, with
Lim An Keng contributing a third goal in the 34th minute off a timely push inside, with Pesonen dragged away by
Hwang Teck Fu's off-the-ball movement.
Conceding thrice had gotten into Waali Khodor's craw, so it seemed, as he held onto
Hisham Zubari in the 38th minute, apparently unwilling to let the Grilled midfielder escape towards a fourth. Ironically, that was exactly what happened with Zubari pinging the free-kick to Thach the moment he got the ball back, as the Grilled Number Ten then laid it on for the charging
Aw Keng Chuan to bury. Yorba then had their first real chance with veteran player-coach Floris-Jan Schoemans anticipating Stoffel Grootjans' overlap, but
Radomil Marcol kept it tight at his near post.
The second half began with Yorba Linda FC more in damage limitation mode from Schoemans' gesturing, but this was to little avail as they soon conceded a penalty five minutes in. Pesonen appeared to have done well to keep
Lim An Keng from an inviting
Hein Thiha Pyae Ko cross, but the referee would spot a sly elbow into the Grilled forward's back, right as the ball approached.
Raúl Himadas took his time to set the ball up on the spot, and waited for Kardolus to commit himself to the right, before rolling it in at the other post.
Lim would get his own back after 63 minutes, as he stuck a leg around Pesonen with the latter having some trouble getting an overhit square ball under control, before putting it past the goalkeeper with his weaker left foot.
Tian Yonghang had seen enough from his squad, and looked conspicuously brighter as he gave the still transfer-listed
Gandhik Chitre a run-out, replacing
Hwang Teck Fu in central attack.
Yorba did have something to give, however, and they perhaps had too much quality in reserve to leave without a consolation or two. Rowan Droge began to shine with Marzuki never being the most defensively-oriented player - especially not when six goals up - and he would advance into the Grilled box entirely unaccompanied, as Schoemans worked his magic against a flustered Nagata about the 71st minute.
Raúl Himadas tried an unconvincing tackle that came nowhere close, and Droge easily deposited it past
Radomil Marcol with much of the goal open.
The Dutch Number Eight then did it again six minutes from the end, with Lou Blaak unleashing his footwork against Hein on the other flank, and breaking Atul Marathe through with a disguised outside-boot flick.
Phillip Nagata would then be subbed off for
Paulino Trindade soon after being shown the yellow card upon a late trip on Stoffel Grootjans, together with
Raúl Himadas going off for
Damian Hutter. No further events were in store, as it ended 6-2.
