Team Repeat
Uncanny Replays
It was another case of deja vu for the Birds, who reprised their 8-0 victory ten seasons ago, in the same round, against City part-timers team11. Not only that, there were more coincidences for players on both sides, especially the dedicated Mohd Dahlan bin Mohd Zain for the hosts, and
Tian Yonghang for Grilled.
Tian was in fact the sole holdover from that first meeting, while there were impressively no changes at all for the tightly-knitted team11, who have made it through thick and thin together. 48 year-old striker Kamarulzaman bin Sahat was in prime condition for one, having just taken his team past Duxton Hotspur in a fiercely-contested Cup derby with a magnificent hat-trick.
Grilled were a different kettle altogether, however, and only four minutes had passed before Yin Hsiao Yen quite unexpectedly handled in the box. Few knew quite what to make about what had happened, least of all the man himself, but
Djan Bacelar cared little as he knocked it in from the penalty spot.
Mohd Dahlan then repeated his yellow card from then in the seventh minute, with a vicious chopping tackle on
Leong Wan Kang, who managed to take it in good humour. Anyway, since
Pompeo Bellamoli scored from the restart, he had little reason to hold a grudge.
Low Aik Jia then upped it to 3-0, before Bacelar gave Mohd Dahlan a taste of his own medicine with a rather irresponsible challenge. The defender resolutely hobbled on for a while more, but after it became clear that he was in no condition to keep up with Grilled's frontline, Teoh Long Fu replaced him.
The break brought a short reprieve to the hosts, who had their best spell of the day immediately after. Kamarulzaman managed an attempt on
Wong Tian Han, much lauded by the team11 crowd, and Tan Guang Keng earned cheers at the other end too as he dove well to reject
Ling Fuquan's stooping header.
Bacelar decided that three wasn't enough, though, and the Brazilian crashed one in off the crossbar in the 63rd minute, with Leong a big help in the build-up. He then sent another corner to
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim, who was delighted with the service, and a free-kick to
Hilal Bakhtiar for the sixth.
One could understand if he was somewhat reluctant to come off in the 75th minute, with a hat-trick in sight, but
Gleb Dorogan at least didn't waste his sacrifice with only his second since his return. Dorogan instantly acknowledged Leong for the assist, which had the young forward grinning.
To end it,
Tian Yonghang closed the circle by stealing the ball off a by-now casual Teoh, to relieve his old exploits.
