Stamping His Brand
No Slowing Ying Lee
A week after his brace against UNITED SKANKS,
Chow Ying Lee kept his spell going with a devastating hat-trick against AdidasFC, and in truth it could have been even more as Chow ran rings about the well-regarded AdidasFC defence as though they weren't there.
The visitors, who were running out of time to lift themselves up the table, started with a more exciting formation than they brought to The Cooking Pot. With a single point no longer too useful, they abandoned playing for a draw and instead handed captain Lee Hao Yun the unenviable task of patrolling midfield by himself, while sticking young forwards Robert Tse and Lai Guang Jin up top in hopes of nicking a goal or two.
The Birds, again sporting an all-local starting lineup, stuck to their favourite attacking game, and after ten minutes
Chow Ying Lee turned Serwacy Matyjaszek and powered a dipping lob over Peter Kwan in the Adidas goal.
Now behind, the hosts returned to their usual conservative habits, and succeeded in frustrating Grilled with dedicated marking. While many of their players might not individually be rated as highly as the likes of Chow, they filled in for each other with admirable tenacity, and managed to protect Kwan for almost half an hour before
Tian Yonghang got to him with another chip.
Adidas then got the deadly counterattack they had been awaiting for so long, as the ensuing corner was headed well clear by Santiago Alperin, right to Hubert Jun wide left. The wingback raced ahead for all he was worth, and although his effort was batted away by
Wong Tian Han, his effort was not in vain as Serwacy Matyjaszek closed in to finish it off.
The hosts wouldn't have long to celebrate, sadly, as Chow reinstated Grilled's lead from the restart.
Woon Shun An's inside pass was helped on by
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim, and Chow needed no second invitation to put his boot through the ball for 2-1.
He would then complete his hat-trick in the very next minute, with a flustered Alperin trying too hard with an ambitious diagonal pass to Lee. It was picked off by
Zhao Jing Wei, who immediately sent Chow through the momentarily out-of-shape Adidas backline.
The stands let out a pent-up cheer when Lee sent Tian tumbling in a no-holds-barred battle for possession, which had Tian - who had three of his own in the reverse fixture earlier in the season - ending his participation in the match. This meant that
Djan Bacelar would be given his first league appearance, though the impending arrival of half-time meant that he had barely made it on before having to leave.
Adidas came out punching after the break, and after Chow tested Kwan with a decent headed attempt, Robert Tse nearly claimed a dream goal when he plastered Berke Tarı's cutback into the crossbar. The real lift came in the 67th minute, when skipper Lee got a corner to the imposing Alperin, who narrowly beat
Wong Tian Han with his firm header.
The Adidas West Stadium was now back in full voice, but once again not for long as the Birds kept their distance. Acting captain
Abdul bin Jantan had not featured too much previously, but his contribution at this time was among the most important of the day. It looked like a straightforward finish from the stands, but it was the veteran who made it look easy.
Zhao Jing Wei then put the result beyond doubt with one of his unsettling sudden charges at a defender to win the ball, while Bacelar was denied a souvenir as the very professional Kwan twisted acrobatically in mid-air to readjust to the Brazilian's late-moving strike.
