Sent Home
Sweet Memories
The Birds met Sentosa Islanders in the second round after a gap of eleven seasons, and it was a familiar face who enjoyed himself thoroughly.
Tian Yonghang, who had made his scoring Cup debut at Sentosa Road then, added his 134th and 135th competitive goals to his first that was scored on this ground.
Impressively, the amateur Islanders had managed to keep exactly the same set of players that had entertained Grilled in the previous meeting, while the visiting Birds only had Tian and
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim from then. The latter was evidently not at his best, having just made his way back after hurting himself against awe bahrain.
Not that the Birds needed him that urgently, given the difference in levels between the sides, and
Low Aik Jia waited all of two minutes before sprinting in, as
Chow Ying Lee pulled clear of the Islanders backline. It was almost unfair how much faster the two were than their respective defenders, who could only grin sheepishly after the fact.
Low was not about to spare the Islanders' veterans, and he next gave 61 year-old Yi Siew-Mun the runaround before feeding it to an appreciative Tian. Apparently, goalie Moy Jin-Han remembered his old nemesis, from his friendly pat on Tian's back as the Cup-winning Grilled captain wheeled away. Tian good-naturedly returned an awkward wave, perhaps unsure if opposition players should be so chummy while the game was still in progress.
Then again, not even the home fans seriously thought their team could pull off an earth-shattering upset, and were content with soaking in the carnival atmosphere.
Leong Wan Kang was begrudgingly applauded for his flashy volleyed goal in the seventh minute, which was the signal for assistant coach Luis Alcántara to motion for the players to tone it down and save themselves for the weekend.
Despite playing at half-speed,
Low Aik Jia still managed some strikes on target, while Mohd Safri had his long layoff to blame when he shot tamely at Moy after tricking his way into the six-yard box. Again, Moy was understanding as he gave the thumbs-up while still holding the ball while sprawled, and Mohd Safri mustered up enough humour to smile back.
Half-time saw
Pompeo Bellamoli replace Leong, and soon after,
Tian Yonghang make it two with an alert stab at the ball, after the very active Low spotted his advance. It was all quite mundane for the travelling support, however, who only perked up when Mohd Safri was held up on the edge of the box in the 50th minute - if only because it was
Che Harun bin Sabtu who stepped up.
Che had been steady but slow in his previous games for the Birds, and only too happy to pass it on for his younger, sprightlier colleagues to chase. They, in turn, were only too willing to let him have a go this time, and Che did not disappoint, finding a gap in the defensive wall to make it five-nil.
Hilal then profited from a mistake at the back, before Che beat Moy once more, this time from the spot, after Bellamoli took a tumble in the penalty area. That appeared a bit soft, but referee Steen Rud Lorentzen called it, and the Islander players were beyond caring.
The rest of the game consisted of Grilled's players trying to set Che up for a hat-trick, but the hosts were not about to roll over any further, and he will have to wait for that. Madaini and Vandeneynde collected appearances late on, as
Colby Awyong and
Remco van der Ban took their leave.
