|
| FIXTURE HISTORY |
|
| Season 92 | D | 3 - 3 | Tournament (Group Phase) |
| |
|
|
Fjell Felled
Hein Sets Stage
Grilled Birds would not leave the Dominion International Cup without a win, in getting one against Norwegian II.3 side Fjell IL in their final group stage match. While it was too late for them to quality, it nonetheless gave some assurance that they were not too far off the top level of international football - and restored much shine to Myanmar midfield star
Hein Thiha Pyae Ko, who had been in a bit of a slump.
Fjell IL's 5-1 trouncing of Beavers FC last week, coming alongside the Birds' own 0-5 whimper against Rex Scaniae, gave little suggestion that it would be anything other than another sad outing for Grilled.
Dan Alstani certainly didn't have anything new tactics-wise, with the Norwegians sticking to their wide 3-5-2 that included former Portuguese youth international forward Alberto Oliveira Martinho, Puerto Rican national playmaker Omar Vendrell, and reliable Italian Number One Marco Noser.
With Grilled Birds being unable to qualify, there was naught much other than pride that they were playing for, with Fjell also giving every impression that they would be satisfied with a draw - which would be enough for them to go through - for the first half an hour. Grilled were not about to just go with the flow, however, with
Hwang Teck Fu especially set on stamping his mark after his recent highs. The 30 year-old centre forward battled his way out of a mob of defenders then, only to apparently be bundled over by Marco Noser on his final turn!
The referee was not interested, to Hwang's disbelief, and would be proven correct by pitchside camera angles that showed Noser getting the ball first. There would be no time to dawdle anyhow, as Fjell pressed
Hein Thiha Pyae Ko into a risky pass trapped by Tranamil at the other end. Hein went from villain to hero in a flash after the Chilean striker shot wide, as he latched onto
Radomil Marcol's goal kick, and dribbled it past three men to open with a delicate chip.
Hwang was first to congratulate the goalscorer, but it was evident that his own hunger had not been sated. He would resume his relentless testing of Marius Năpar, who for all his height was ill-suited to contain the Grilled bruiser. Hwang's 35th minute goal was a pure reflection of his striking philosophy, as he rammed it off the crossbar, almost got on the volley but for Năpar's interference, bumped the defender out of the way, and then powered a second shot through Noser's block for 2-0.
That was a one-man battering ram if ever there was one, and the half ended with
Genki Nagano winning a free-kick after competent shielding of the ball some ways outside the box, before taking it personally and requiring Noser to make a flying save. Noser would continue to be called into action for the new half, first in getting in the way of Hwang's effort 54 minutes in, before barely tipping
Phillip Nagata's looping curler around the post five minutes later.
Hein Thiha Pyae Ko's excellent display would not prevent him from being substituted off for
Mohd Marzuki Khairul in the 75th minute, although it had to be said that he had given almost everything by then. There would then be a counter-counterattack a while on after
Aw Keng Chuan's strike was stopped by Noser, with
Hisham Zubari stopping Cecilio Cerutti's charge with great difficulty. It wasn't enough as Asier Tranamil carried on the rush without missing a beat, and all but ran it into the net with
Radomil Marcol having focused on Cerutti's incursion across goal.
A draw felt within reach for Fjell at that, but Marzuki's contribution was yet to come. The fresh substitute would more or less have his run of the place on the fringes of the penalty area, and a well-timed cut inside against former Belarus U-20 fullback Israel Zano had him restore Grilled's two-goal lead in the 85th minute. Alstani took Hwang off for
Lim An Keng right after, and the latter would dedicate himself to ensuring that the scoreline didn't change.
