Discharged From Service
Bacelar Draws Blank
The second-round match was a letdown for
Djan Bacelar, who had thought that he would be in the goals after being picked as the only striker in an experimental 4-5-1 against recreational side SAF FC, composed mostly of army regulars. The hosts certainly had the discipline but were outmatched skill-wise, and held out for nearly thirty minutes before
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim went straight for the throat with a piledriver from outside the area.
First sergeant goalie Ou Mingqiang would have to get into the habit of retrieving the ball, with
Leong Wan Kang giving him a good excuse for missing the second with an overhead kick that would not have looked out of place on television. Mohd Safri soon combined with Leong, who had shifted to right wing for the game, to make it 3-0 and game.
Bacelar, who had been religiously marked out of the match, had his opportunity when handed a free-kick in the 39th minute, but generously tapped it forward for
Pompeo Bellamoli to try a surprise rush. Sun Eryang was onto him and got in the way, only to send the deflection to an alert
Chow Ying Lee for the same end product.
Tian got in the goals again with by shooting hard and high, before the discouraged Bacelar outsmarted himself with a chip down the middle when taking a penalty, only to find that Ou had not bothered to move. Chow, Ross and Colby were all more handy, and for once the flamboyant Brazilian was almost relieved to go off, especially since it was for
Yvan Lefébure's last appearance for Grilled.
There was a nice little touch when
Lin An Chu made only his second competitive appearance for the club against some of his former battalion mates, though neither he nor Lefébure managed to mark the occasion with a goal.
