Sound Paddling
Tian Can
Debutant
Gene Filippone looked like he had always belonged in the heart of the Grilled defence, as he hardly put a foot wrong in his first eighty minutes on the pitch for his new team. The attention at the Stadium of Unity was however monopolised by the trusty
Tian Yonghang, who banged two in on his 160th appearance for the Birds, to widen his lead in the Golden Boot table to three goals.
UNITED SKANKS' Argentine coach Sebastian De Biase had come under severe pressure in recent weeks after a less than inspiring slate of results, with their only league win thus far being a tight 1-0 against fellow strugglers Dream Seals. While highly-regarded for his training programmes, De Biase's motivational abilities have come under scrutiny, as SKANKS have all too often not been able to rise to the occasion, despite having no glaring needs.
They would miss important Portuguese midfielder Nélson de Sousa for this game, while on the visitors' end,
Rashid bin Ahmad failing a late fitness test made giving Filippone his debut an easy decision to take for
Niculae Stanca. Also,
Low Aik Jia returned to the right wing, as
Abdul bin Jantan took a break on the bench.
With the hosts having let in an average of five goals a game in the league, disregarding the Dream Seals win, the smart money was on Grilled to score a few times. However, SKANKS gave a good account of themselves in the opening twenty minutes, as they encouragingly kept the Birds' main threats in check. Much of that could be attributed to Romanian captain Giani Negreanu, who made it his personal calling to stick to
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim.
Unfortunately, his compatriots were not as successful, and a swift one-two from
Tian Yonghang and
Chow Ying Lee brought SKANKS to their knees. They could hardly be blamed, though, as Grilled were well-practised in doubling-up out wide, and both those goals arose after the respective wingback got overloaded.
Cautiously optimistic up to this point, this development had De Biase quite visibly losing his composure in the dugout, though he retained sufficient wits about him to relay orders to his skipper. The hosts began to raise the barricades more deeply within their own half, and South African livewire Jabulani Nxumalo reflected that commitment with a strong lunge in on
Zhao Jing Wei. The latter appeared ready to react, when referee Louis Van Menen intervened by booking Nxumalo.
For all of SKANKS' efforts, it was game over once again by the 34th minute, as
Ling Fuquan breezed through to power home his third goal of the campaign. Strikes from distance have become something of a calling card for the adventurous fullback, and with Filippone, like Rashid, only too happy too stay back, fans can expect more such attempts from the Number Fifteen.
The home support had a brief reprieve from the wretched day, when Spanish wingback Juan Nogueras spun away from Chow before nutmegging
Wong Ping Shun in a cheeky exhibition of flair, but that was ultimately not of much use coming as it did near his own corner flag. In contrast, there was nothing too special about
Woon Shun An running onto a long ball before lobbing Per Wettergren, but the difference was that it counted as a goal - Grilled's fourth.
SKANKS did follow up with a consolation, as Ling's eagerness to get upfield again left acres of space for Artur Patecki to head into. That left Filippone to cover both the forwards on his own, and while he gave it a good go, Andy Thury came to meet Patecki's pass right on schedule, and clipped it past
Wong Tian Han with his instep.
They then lost goalie Per Wettergren to a relapse of his hamstring concern, after Chow ran into him from the back as they headed for a stray high ball. Indeed, Chow was lucky to remain on the pitch, as he had no hope of winning that challenge, and his teammates shepherded him away from the scene of the crime before the referee changed his mind. Federico Forster would be called into action for the second league match in a row.
The way that SKANKS lined up for the second half indicated that they viewed it as a damage limitation exercise, and Grilled reciprocated by stepping down a gear or two, with the midweek meeting away to CharlesCheesePie in mind. Still, there was no stopping
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim in the 55th minute, as the natural predator first-timed it into the top corner, after
Low Aik Jia's rush had been stopped by a great tackle from Nogueras.
The flashy winger's dark side came to the fore later on, after his pocket was picked by Fredrick Eskwandem; Low was not about to let that go, and threw himself feet-first at Eskwandem's ankles in a questionable quest to retrieve the ball. It was another possible red card offence, but again the referee decided to give the Grilled player the benefit of the doubt, to strenuous disapproval from the stands.
He then nearly rubbed it in by outpacing Luka Fehrbelliner along the touchline, to a chorus of boos, before finding Chow with his pullback. There would be no assist, though, as Forster raised his reputation with a magnificent save, putting the shot over the bar despite starting from an unlikely position.
Filippone was rewarded with applause from the visiting contingent as he came off for
Qassem Madaini after 80 solid minutes, and Tian then gave them reason to continue cheering, as he put away Grilled's sixth before Filippone had disappeared down the tunnel. He received the ball with his back to goal just outside the area, and while Forster covered most of the ground between them in an instant, Tian's accuracy meant that he found a gap between the goalkeeper and his defender.
Remco van der Ban then made a debut of his own with three minutes remaining, though one could understand if it was a bit muted, given how Ling nearly sent Thury to hospital with an aggressive body check, leading with an elbow. Ling evidently has learnt little from his suspension last week, but seeing as to how his style seems to be working, it might be hard to get him to change it.
