Scorps Limit Birds
Low-Scoring Affair
The Scorps back four effectively contained
Tim Hobson and
Chen Chiew-Yen to few chances and in the end only a goal each as they proved to be a cohesive defensive unit. The game could have turned out quite differently had defender Deng Jian-Yi opened accounts from a creative dead ball situation, with a fake run-up by Swiss midfielder Clement Saint.
Hang Bao-Tam didn't fall for the ruse, however, and gathered the tricky free kick with more ease than one would have thought possible. Scorps' attack was weakened when Md Ali bin Sheikh Abu Bakar suffered a knock on his knee, and had to be replaced by inexperienced youngster Mei Thien-Tan. Fittingly, Grilled answered Scorps free kick inventiveness with a goal from one, and if
Tim Hobson lacked guile in his set-up his execution was near to flawless. It did not help Scorps that their defensive wall had a gaping hole for Hobson to shoot right through.
Chen Chiew-Yen, not to be left behind and fresh from a hat-trick against Manchester Town F.C. in the last league match, put his mark on the game with a technically excellent scissors kick, slightly extravagant but it did the job.
The second half was a real bore after a bright opening period which saw
Kau Siu-Cheung dive into a low
Tom Pence cross pass, only to see his effort punched around the post by young Swedish goalkeeper Tony Flinkby. Grilled seemed to be stuck in a post-Cup rut and content to cruise to a two-nil win, with only
Tom Pence showing some hunger for goals and getting a caution for his pains.
