Mason Finds Rhythm
Wu On Drums
It was back to The Hattrick Time Machine trial with the same 3-4-3 last fielded against Cabo Verde, if even more casual as Grilled Birds put out a reserve front three in
Mason Glendinning,
Virgil Huang and
Zaini Zainuddin Junaidi. This barely slowed them against Symphony FC, either way, as Glendinning grabbed a treble on the double.
Looking somewhat sombre in their sand-coloured kit, Symphony had Joseph Haydn in goal for their imbalanced 3-5-2, that then had Franz Schubert usually sticking with Richard Wagner at rightback, leaving Gustav Mahler under-supported at the other wing. Johann Sebastian Bach oversaw from the middle with Tchaikovsky and Chopin out wide, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart guiding a young Ludwig van Beethoven on the offense.
There would not be much if any testing of
Radomil Marcol for all of Mozart's mentorship, with the composers faring little better than their Thinker counterparts had. They did hold out awhile longer without
Hwang Teck Fu battering down the centre, with
Mason Glendinning finally scoring in the 20th minute after none of the defenders followed up on
Ananda Hettiarachchi's lob coming off the bar, to a shake of the head by Haydn.
Wu Ping De received the only card of the game in the 26th minute for bringing Chopin down, more out of carelessness than any ill intent. Ananda then stretched fruitlessly for a free-kick that
Houssam Belhocine left for
Genki Nagano, before Glendinning picked up a second some 33 minutes in.
Zaini Zainuddin Junaidi was not about to be left out today, and he was alert when Wu pulled it back for
Hein Thiha Pyae Ko, inviting the one-touch assist past the stranded Maurice Ravel.
Three goals probably understated Grilled Birds' dominance in the first half, and more was inevitable when they took it up another few notches, with
Wu Ping De driving play from the left. Another good short cross despite being doubled up on had
Houssam Belhocine make it four-nil in the 51st minute, with
Hein Thiha Pyae Ko then setting
Virgil Huang up from even heavier coverage right after.
Most eyes remained on
Mason Glendinning, who had quite obviously been seeking to complete his hat-trick with his mates' compliance, and the suspense would not continue for too long as the Number 29 rifled a half-volley past Haydn in the 67th minute, after
Virgil Huang's knockdown sparked a scramble.
Wu Ping De then got in on the act for himself, rotating over to the right and greatly confusing Mahler in the process.
This had Alstani go for a triple change that got the El Khateeb brothers and
Mohd Marzuki Khairul on, with
Hisham Zubari legitimately untested before going off for Mohsen in central defence. Tchaikovsky chose this time to hit the right note, but Ludwig van Beethoven apparently misheard his call-out, and
Wu Ping De converted on the return.
