Stragglers Left Behind
Shaahee Has His Day
If the 0-6 tournament defeat to Scallop Soccer Team was demoralising, Grilled went about the best way of clearing it from memory by dishing out another record 12-0 win, this time against the Hougang Stragglers. Hougang had the bad luck to be up against a Birds side dying to wash the stain of defeat off themselves, and hat-tricks by
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim and
Chow Ying Lee ripped the Stragglers apart.
All eyes were on the away goal, with the question on everybody's mind being whether
Hovaness Noubaryan would take to the field after his Monday collapse. The Georgian goalie did trot grimly to his post, but was never in any trouble this time as the semi-profession Hougang team, despite having always finished in the top half of their Division Five league, posed little challenge to Grilled's selection.
There was little surprise expressed even by the home fans when
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim got Grilled on the way in the 10th minute, closing in on reluctant goalie Lu Qingsong before rolling it in on his weaker side. The unexpected did happen when
Shiya Shaahee finished off a rebound off the Hougang defensive wall ten minutes later, meaning that the Maldives winger had finally scored after fourteen appearances.
Chow Ying Lee was booked before he put in two for himself, following Mohd Safri's second. Hometown boy
Leong Wan Kang had a great time too, and the fan-styled Debut King made up for lost time with a double, tangling with a forgiving
Tian Yonghang for his first, before nicking the ball cleverly and slotting it in once more.
Seven up by half-time, Grilled were utterly relaxed for the second half, and Tian switched positions with Chow freely which resulted in a goal apiece, which made it Chow's fifth career hat-trick. Not to be outdone, Mohd Safri got his fifth hat-trick too before the game ended, as
Hung Wee Li, and Shaahee again, added to the tally.
