Starting Bell Rung
In His Pomp
Grilled got a much-needed boost ahead of Sunday's big match against newbies are newbies, by running out 3-0 winners in the rehearsal at the newbies ground this morning.
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim and
Chow Ying Lee, whom will share the burden of finding the goals come then, both got some practice in late on, but it was
Pompeo Bellamoli who stole the show starting beside them in midfield. For the record, it was Grilled's first local friendly in fifteen seasons, the last being against Tinombala FC.
The significance of the game was not lost on the hosts either, and while head coach Gong Wing-Fung decided not to risk Peter Haley, he did let first-choice goalkeeper Javier Caamaño take his measure of the Birds. Caamaño letting in a few might not do his confidence a world of good, though, and it was
Wong Tian Han who enjoyed the outing a lot more.
Wong did have his scare when local legend Roshadi bin Che Rusli splattered the crossbar, as he must have done dozens of times already on this ground, signalling to all present that while he may have lost a yard of pace, all his tricks were still there. The cameras then had to swing over to the other end as
Zhao Jing Wei's panicked clearance happened to drop right for
Djan Bacelar playing as lone striker, but the Brazilian went even higher than Roshadi with his strike.
Although not particularly large, the home crowd as certainly partisan, and not at all eager to have Grilled gain bragging rights in the lead-up to the league decider. At odds with the explosive atmosphere in the stands was the aura of almost unnerving calm that the newbies players maintained, as they were seemingly unaffected by last week's shock defeat. The only time it was shaken was when
Wong Ping Shun threatened to barge through Ibrahim bin Sulaiman on the right, and the newbies winger clumsily took him out.
A yellow card later, the same stalemate resumed, and it took a magnificent explosion of pace down the other flank for the newbies defence to really swing into action.
Low Aik Jia started from the centre circle and wound up drifting to the left before returning into the middle, nutmegging the hapless veteran He Ruifang along the way, but then made a right hash of his shot, to his own clear disgust.
Leong Wan Kang would provide fresh legs after half-time as Bacelar handed the captaincy to
Qassem Madaini, who had been sticking close to old nemesis Roshadi throughout. Grilled's counterattacking game bore unexpected fruit as newbies appeared unprepared for this hithero unknown tactical side, but Chow would sky his shot in the 59th minute after another long ball out from Zhao.
The hosts were not going anywhere either, with Roshadi slowing and his teenaged helpers eager but lacking guile. A draw was looking like the most probable outcome, when Bellamoli came out of nowhere to polish off a strange cross from
Ling Fuquan. The Italian would likely not have featured had
Tian Yonghang stayed healthy, but he had more than repaid Luis Alcántara's faith in him with a sterling and disciplined performance in the middle, even before this crowning moment.
newbies now had sixteen minutes to reply, but Grilled had no lack of numbers at the back for once. Zhao proved himself highly effective as a makeshift libero, forcing the newbies forward line back more than once, and his super-long passes likewise kept their defenders harried. One of those made it through to Chow, who wouldn't miss two in a row.
Madaini took his leave in the 85th minute and passed the armband on yet again, this time to Mohd Safri. The Grilled striker has never been recognized as a natural leader, but then there are few acts more inspiring than scoring, which he duly did from another excellent assist by Wong down the right.
