Exits Blocked
Isipciuc & Thach Show
The first round of the new World Battle had three-time Ligi Kuu Ya Kenya national league champions 666_Exit One hold fellow II.2 club Grilled Birds, fittingly to a 2-2 draw. The right forwards from each side dominated in an open game, which struck a stark contrast between Exit One's solidity at the back in a seemingly-offensive 3-4-3 formation, which had the Birds play most of the match in their half without being overly threatening.
Exit One had been striving to regain their past glories since their historic three-peat twelve years back, with their latest stint in the top flight having just ended with relegation, after two difficult seasons. 44 year-old local head coach Chui Owiti was by all accounts constrained in the transfer market, having only just brought in his first signing of his tenure: 29 year-old Chilena striker Guido Arias, for S$7.5 million.
Then again, Owiti always had a strong squad to work with, with the club known for holding the national centreback pair of Hezekiah Kairu and Jafari Macharia, as well as the also-capped defensive midfielder Denis Richard. All three would start today, if with Richard as sweeper and Macharia in midfield, not that this stymied their expression much. Former Turkish youth international forward Tahir Palmir would be considered their marquee star despite the wealth of famous names, with Macharia's midfield partner for the day Rashidi Kemai awaiting his first callup for the Harambee Stars.
Many of the attendees had not yet found their seat when Exit One went ahead in the second minute, as they punished Grilled Birds' laxity in tracking back early on. There looked to be little danger as Icelandic winger Arnar Kristjánsson ran the ball up and down the right wing with
Lim An Keng ambling along, but as it turned out, he was only waiting for Damian Isipciuc to lose
Genki Nagano. A swift through pass had the Moldovan with a free second on the ball, which was enough for him to strike a clean first-time shot to
Radomil Marcol's top left corner.
The home fans made up for lost time with a series of cheers, but their team then possibly began to give Grilled far too much room to operate, as they sought to hit back on the counter. Grilled were good enough to retain possession about the midway line even when they failed to open the opposition up, and they mimicked the opener with
Phillip Nagata rushing past Hezekiah Kairu in the ninth minute. Richard elected to stay with
Hwang Teck Fu, but this left
Chad Thach entirely unmarked, which had him convert easily for 1-1.
Grilled went on to keep their slight advantage on the ball for the rest of the half, as Kristjánsson's booking for tripping
Hein Thiha Pyae Ko in the 14th minute had him become noticeably less aggressive in his tackling. Another failure to cover in the 28th minute had Thach finish once more on a sweet
Mohd Marzuki Khairul slingshot assist, and
Genki Nagano was half a yard away from making it three goals about four minutes on, as the overworked defence parted for his late run.
Exit One's supporters were not discouraged as they sang through the break, and there was something to be said about their positive approach to football. The game restarted with the rain holding off, and
Chad Thach nearly completed a hat-trick five minutes in, after the Kenyan defence was again unable to lock Nagata down. Jafari Macharia saved the day with a powerful surge that herded Thach sideways, fortunately for his team, and Swedish goalie Melker Bohdahl had the near post fully covered by the time the attempt came in.
The goal kick was promptly distributed to Kemai, who lost Hein with a feint on the turn and proceeded to run the ball deep into Birds territory. It was the Grilled players' turn to be unsure of their positions, and
Mohd Marzuki Khairul struggled to keep up with Guido Arias, who accelerated like a shooting star in support of Kemai's dribble. The outlet pass eventually went short to Isipciuc, who reminded that he didn't have to be inside the box to score, by duly curling it home from some seventeen yards.
The spectacular strike swung the initiative back to Exit One, who fared quite well in directing the play themselves. Kemai continued to be their biggest influence in the middle, and his expert shielding of the ball in the 58th minute got
Hwang Teck Fu carded, with the Birds Number Nine grudgingly recognizing Kemai's ability in the aftermath. An unimpressive
Lim An Keng would be off soon after, as
Dan Alstani brought
Wu Ping De in to combat Kristjánsson on the flank.
This gave Grilled Birds quite a bit more pop on the left, but didn't fix their defensive failings, and they were lucky to have Isipciuc fire wire with Marcol grounded in the 71st minute. No hat-tricks today, so it seemed, and the participants seemed to have settled for the score draw, as the next eighteen minutes passed without notable incident.
The fourth official's signalling of a single added minute had them kick it up several notches, with Lebanese wingman Charbel Faour making his best run of the day past
Phillip Nagata, only for his low cross to be dragged just outside Arnar Kristjánsson's area of control.
Genki Nagano kept his cool to push the loose ball wide of Isipciuc and run it back, but Melker Bohdahl made a brilliant save against
Wu Ping De's prospective winner from eight yards.
