Branch Bowed
Safri Sinks Fleet
Grilled pulled out a resounding 5-0 against Benfleet Branch, that sounded much easier than it actually was, to get past the sixth round of the Cup for the first time in seven seasons. With a not-very-mobile
Qassem Madaini partnered by emergency defender
Abdul bin Jantan, due to a mix of injury and suspension to the Birds' preferred pairing, the hosts looked good for a shout or two. Despite their steadfast defending, Benfleet were unable to hold out until the break, and were finally put away in the second half.
With a ten match unbeaten record behind them, few of the over 73000 present at Woodside Park expected a rampage, particularly with the hosts' affinity with the 5-3-2. There was an air of expectation around the home fans each time one of the forwards touched the ball, given how rickety Grilled's back two were, which made getting that early lead all the more urgent.
That was not at all simple, though, even with Grilled's midfield dominance, and their first true opportunity was covered by Benfleet's goalie Adrian Niculescu, as
Abdul bin Jantan's flagging pace prevented him from getting on
Wong Ping Shun's defence-splitting pass.
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim was even more guilty three minutes later when
Chow Ying Lee swivelled past his marker, being nowhere close enough to support properly and forcing a poor pass tha was cut out.
Meanwhile, Domenico Bühler was slowly whirring into gear at the other end, and the Birds' desperation gave way to a bit of improvisation in the 35th minute. Having been taken down by young wingback Hong Shun Dong,
Wong Ping Shun took full advantage of Hong's inexperience to play to the whistle, clipping the ball on for Chow while still lying prone. Taken unaware, the Benfleet defence couldn't react fast enough, but Niculescu bailed them out with a fine catch.
Hopes from the home support for an upset were raised as Grilled just seemed unable to press the issue. Mohd Safri, who has gone on a mini-drought of five matches, which is also his longest since his seven-match barren run in the first half of Season 47, saw his delightful lob clatter the crossbar, after he had made some quite magical turns to escape Daniel Hofstätter.
With their self-assurance now at a high, one minor lapse doomed Benfleet. Yet another Grilled attack had come to nothing, when Alfredo Andrea made a late tug on
Tian Yonghang's arm. His colleagues made the mistake of coming over to protest the referee's decision, even as Tian restarted play immediately. In the end,
Woon Shun An managed to skip through and beat Niculescu from close range.
The jitters from that had not worn off, when the otherwise unremarkable
Low Aik Jia made inroads against Brazillian fullback Roque Louzada for once. Mindful of Grilled's forwards racing in behind him, Andrea panicked and blocked Low off. While he avoided a second yellow, the offence coming so soon after his first, it was still a disaster for him, as
Wong Ping Shun would simply not miss another penalty in a week.
A promising position had turned into a two-goal deficit in an instant, and try as Benfleet head coach Tino Seiffert might to inspire his charges during the interval, there was little indication that it worked. Instead, it was the Birds who amped up the aggression, with
Zhao Jing Wei biting at Lukas Brumsee's knee with a no-nonsense challenge in the 49th minute, punished by the referee.
It became three-nil while Brumsee received treatment on the sidelines, as Low won a corner off Louzada on the right.
Wong Ping Shun floated that in temptingly, and Mohd Safri could at last put his dry spell to bed, with a trademark flying header off the underside of the bar.
Running out of time and options, Seiffert converted his side into a 3-5-2 on the hour mark, replacing defenders Hong Shun Dong and Jonathan Martin with wingers Cheah Qiang Chuan and Jalloul Msallem.
Niculae Stanca in contrast had the luxury of resting
Chow Ying Lee, and rewarding reserve forward
Pompeo Bellamoli with half an hour to express himself.
It was not clicking for the hosts, and after another ten minutes, Seiffert threw Austrian striker Fabian Pitzek on, in a last roll of the dice. As it was, it turned up snake eyes, given that their main hope Benny Osborn had to retire without a replacement four minutes later, after pulling his back. A man down and without their best player by some distance, Benfleet were in no condition to guard against a revitalized Mohd Safri when he burst into the box.
Benfleet made their last stand as the stands began to thin out, with Andrea partly atoning for his earlier mistakes by blocking Tian's effort. The Grilled captain would not be shut out, though, and two minutes later came through on the right flank to claim the fifth goal.
