Tea For Four
Chow To Fore
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim might have caught the eye and the Man of the Match award with his two goals, but it was the slightly-forgotten man
Chow Ying Lee who became the connoisseurs' pick, with his pace-on-tap the element that separated the two sides.
It was the first derby clash between the two established Jurong teams, with Yew Tea coming off six productive seasons in the S-League. The past week has seen them divest themselves of Raja Azlan Shah bin Omar for S$8.45 million, which was then reinvested in Spanish defender Raúl Arévalo Morales and then German midfielder Wilfried Rancke from Hinten Diescht in a last-minute S$6.9 million deal, both of whom would debut against the Birds.
On Grilled's end, no new faces were in sight after lu Zunwen and Liang Liyong moved, though
Shiya Shaahee appears to have come to an understanding with the management, seeing as to how eagerly he came on at right wing, in what was otherwise Grilled's usual eleven.
Yew Tea's famed four-man defence, anchored by steady Spanish goalkeeper Damián San Gil Cortázar, will frustrate many attacks in time to come, but it could not control the sheer, almost unfair pace of Chow. The centrebacks were hopelessly split when he spotted them spreading wide, and though they corralled him wide, that left Mohd Safri completely in the clear. The 28 year-old easily cashed in on the first goal of the season in II.2.
Defence remained the same concern for the Birds as it had throughout the last campaign, however, and Yew Tea always looked threatening when the advanced. They were well capable of slashing through with a combination of short bursts and sharp passes, and former Argentine national youth player Mauricio Silva Mendoza levelled in the 22nd minute, the medium-height cross coming in from another ex-international in Aigars Beierbahs.
Perhaps concerned at not pulling his weight at the back,
Ling Fuquan went overboarrd in his tackle on Haji Abdullah bin Razuwan, who barely escaped serious injury by skipping sideways at the final instant. Still, he received a solid tap on the kneecap, which referee Bruno Liaci was quick to penalise with a yellow card.
Grilled just about maintained a slight possession advantage, which played into
Shiya Shaahee's mobility on the right. Having kept Drahomír Hecl honest for half an hour, the Maldives winger went against the grain by going straight for goal in the 32nd minute, and his wondrous lob was only denied by the crossbar. No problem, as Mohd Safri had placed himself in preparation for the header, and calmly nodded the rebound into the net.
Yew Tea went the opposite tack with similar success, as they figured, correctly, that Grilled remained very narrow on the back foot. Haji Abdullah had recovered fully from his knock from the way he burst past
Qassem Madaini in the 36th minute, and Wilfried Rancke classily put in his debut goal to wild celebrations in the stands.
The cheers had not died down when Grilled restarted, but were then completely silenced when Shaahee repeated his earlier trick. Shiya had not been known for going for it at a distance, but with his previous strike just inches away, he might have thought that it was a good day for shooting - and he was proven right when his lob dropped just over San Gil Cortázar.
The Birds however then suffered a huge blow to their hopes of winning, when
Ling Fuquan pulled Hannes-Noah Reinicke back just before half-time. It was hardly a violent act, but the colour drained from Ling's face when he realised that he had already been booked, and his worst fears were then realised when a second yellow appeared.
Having forty-five minutes to get through with ten men, Stanca decided to stick with one defender and rely on pressure at the top. Playing to the side's strengths paid off for the Birds, as
Chow Ying Lee accelerated past Jari Talamonti once again to earn Grilled a two-goal cushion.
And just in time too, with Reinicke getting one back within the minute from another play from the wings, but Grilled dragged the game out professionally after that. Drahomír Hecl was riled up enough to get cautioned for flinging the ball at
Zhao Jing Wei after suspecting the Birds midfielder of delaying a throw-in, and
Tian Yonghang nearly even made it five with a magic chip of his own, only for the Yew Tea keeper to tip it over this time.
