No Love Lost
Famished Safri
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim made up for lost time upon his return to league football with a vengeance, as he started and ended the scoring against Yew Tea. The Jurong series had been shared two apiece before today, and the Birds continued the pattern by obtaining their biggest win against their cross-town opponents thus far.
Yew Tea head coach Aleix Picó had asserted that their 0-4 away loss to Scallop Soccer Team was unacceptable after that match, and that they were resolved to come good against Grilled. They nearly made good on that three minutes in, when Wilfried Rancke's second corner was helped on by Xuan Quesada. Palestinean left winger Omar Zreeqat rushed past
Wong Ping Shun to snatch a strike, that whistled threateningly past the post.
Their ardour diminished markedly after that initial surge, though, and Grilled's midfield soon brought the game under their thumb. The opener was created by
Gene Filippone, chosen as a converted left winger, of all people, as he advanced up the flank and knocked it on to Mohd Safri. The returning forward added a dash of flair to the proceedings by redirecting it with his heel, flummoxing Raúl Arévalo Morales for the moment he needed to line his shot up.
The second goal came after the hosts again came close, with Norwegian striker Trondar Gulbrandsen only halted by a gambled tackle from
Rashid bin Ahmad. The counter was likewise only stopped by a trip, but to the home fans' fury, this one was called a file by the referee.
Zhu Changchun took it quickly, Kévin Denis cut it out before it reached
Chow Ying Lee, but
Zhao Jing Wei was waiting and pounced with perfect timing.
The contest was well and truly heating up, and
Woon Shun An had a brilliant diving header plucked out of the air by Damián San Gil Cortázar. Yew Tea then mounted a breakaway of their own, and
Ling Fuquan's late tackle on Quesada was spotted. Due to what had happened, the crowd were especially pleased when Dimitar Baliev scored off the ensuing free-kick.
That energized the home side, who began to push the Birds back with strong encouragement from the stands. Grilled looked like being in trouble at time, and Filippone had to be careful after getting booked for holding Gulbrandsen back, but good positioning from Rashid and Ling managed to minimize the chances that they got.
It was all very much in the balance until
Tian Yonghang made it 3-1 in the 55th minute. Filippone proved a revelation on the left, as he knack for lurking about before suddenly bursting forward was too often overlooked. The offensively-minded Baliev was again caught unawares then, and Tian made the most of the incoming pass.
Mohd Safri then put his final stamp on the game, with his standard commanding header from
Wong Ping Shun's fine corner. The Grilled icon immediately sought out his new favourite supplier in the aftermath, and their teammates piled on as the result looked to be guaranteed.
Woon's bad luck in front of goal continued as his inventive grounder got a slight deflection away from the bottom corner, but it was immaterial as the hosts could not muster a rally in the fifteen minutes that remained.
