No Messing About
Chow Sends Signal
Chow Ying Lee didn't take to being dropped kindly, but to his credit expressed his displeasure in an appropriate manner, with a brace in a friendly against Kazakhstan Division Three side _meS_Que_un_Club. Grilled then closed with three more in the final ten minutes in a demonstration of home advantage.
meS came prepared to defend, with five at the back marshalled by Kyrgyzstani national regular Sali Satybaldiev, while Grilled were captained by Mohd Safri bin Mohd Safri from the middle, Chow alongside him, and
Dan Seng easing into his second-choice role between the posts.
Seng has certainly begun to look the part since coming up from the Wings, and showed his mettle with a decisive one-handed save off Alessandro Gerra's dipping free-kick 25 minutes in. He wasn't tested too often, however, with attacks slow to come on this rainy day.
This fact of life didn't apply to Chow in the 32nd minute, as the dropped striker showed that his fleet-footness was not constrained to ideal conditions, blazing down the left side and placing the ball past Diego Parapertusa. Johnny Grail replied instantly, though, veteran Kaysar Aygel'diev pulling off a magical pass that left Grail with little to do.
Grilled had their own wing wonders, and
Shiya Shaahee eluded both Aygel'diev and Satybaldiev to crack in an optimistic shot that certainly wasn't meant for
Leong Wan Kang. That was how it turned out, however, and Leong wasn't shy about poaching an easy goal.
Luis Alcantara decided to turn up the firepower for the second half, and
Tian Yonghang replaced the dependable but less creative
Ling Fuquan. Tian didn't take too long to make an impact, creating space for Chow to nip in and make it 3-1.
With most of the game gone, meS head coach Guiu Camps decided that he couldn't wait to shake things up, and goalscorer Grail departed for fresh youngster Meirhan Bakkozhaev. That worked, if Fabián Moreno's forcing the ball in from a corner three minutes later, after a close shave from Dorian Lubczyński, is anything to go by.
Tian was now the focal point as Grilled sought to cement their lead, and although he had an attempt go over, his good work led to
Pompeo Bellamoli doing what was needed, hitting it sweetly from close up to rewiden the lead.
Defender
Colby Awyong and
Hilal Bakhtiar put the outcome beyond all doubt with late strikes as the demoralised meS defence finally became lax, but want-away winger
Hung Wee Li did nothing for his portfolio with an indifferent showing and a yellow card.
