Going Nowhere
Safri Dropped
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim was left out of Grilled's last outing before their first Hattrick Masters match in decades, and his comrades were left to hammer out a two-all draw against The Void Deck at Ground Zero. It was a ground at which the Birds had yet to win, and today would be no different as their two remaining forwards found Void's backline too doughty to breach more than twice.
That said, Mohd Safri's absence was news enough on its own, and the run-up to kickoff was swarmed by reporters trying to get close to the stony-faced star for a comment. They were hustled away by security, however, and the match would start with the jumbo screens displaying Grilled in an unfamiliar 3-5-2, which however had
Low Aik Jia starting to help compensate, and
Rashid bin Ahmad behind him to help cover.
This was a Void side that had won its last five on the trot due to an uncompromising defence, and it showed as they repelled drive after drive from the Birds without particular trouble. Their famed strikes from distance were, however, noticeably absent, as they focused on getting it to big Robban Kjellholt.
The Swede target man would return his club's faith, as he jostled aggressively for position with
Gene Filippone in the nineteenth minute, while waiting for Aleksander Burczyk's cross to come to him. Filippone did the best he could, but would always be second to it in a fair fight, with Kjellholt towering a head above him, and indeed a glancing header skidded past
Wong Tian Han into the far bottom corner.
Filippone's best shot at redemption came just after the hour mark, as
Low Aik Jia broke down the left flank and pumped one in. Antonio Gerardo Paoletti was first at the scene, but miscontrolled the wildly-spinning ball, leaving Filippone to nip in while Paoletti tried to get his bearings. Sadly for him, Mario Loffredo was on his toes, and stopped the effort on the line, to much appreciation from the fans.
Grilled got no closer than that for the full first half, and they had to wait till the 53rd minute to make a lasting impression. Captain
Tian Yonghang, who had been effectively shut out before this, spotted his chance when Loffredo was caught trying to dribble upfield, and made himself free for
Zhu Changchun's pass. Jose Manuel Markmann was off his line in a jiffy, but Tian struck with exquisite timing.
That lifted Grilled's travelling support tremendously, and the Birds entered their most dominating phase of the game, for once looking as if they could breach Void's defence with any consistency.
Chow Ying Lee advanced further and further up, and the space left behind was enough for
Zhao Jing Wei to run onto
Wong Ping Shun's centered ball and give Grilled the lead.
It would, however, not last even the minute, as Void replied with their best attack of the game. Paolo Lo Bartolo sprinted down the right side with the ball, as Wong declined to chase, and by the time the Birds realised that they were in deep trouble, Lo Bartolo was threatening the goal.
Ling Fuquan leapt in to block, but the Italian dodged skilfully before laying it on for Bertold Goekint to run past Wong.
This was all too much for the Birds, who never looked like mounting a serious search for a third after that, and instead contented themselves with replacing three major players before time was up.
