Colonel Commands
Out But Proud
Trinidad & Tobago representatives colonel utd might have already been eliminated, but the Division Two side ensured that they would not leave without a win. The three-time T&T Pro League champions' trusty senior striker Jorge Sotomayor hit two in their farewell, as the Birds' experiment with a 4-4-2 proved to be ill-fated.
In the middle of a minor midfield crisis, Grilled head coach
Djan Bacelar felt this was as good a time as any to try out having only two in the middle, while having
Rashid bin Ahmad and
Qassem Madaini as wingbacks.
Chow Ying Lee was also given an off, as
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim was handed the minutes he wanted to play his way back into form.
colonel were not quite the team they had been when they established themselves at the peak of the T&T Pro League, but they had retained many grizzled campaigners from those shining days, with Norwegian right winger Henrik Berg for one remaining an inspiration at 32. Native-born skipper Jermaine Callam might not have attained those heights yet, but his natural assertiveness was readily apparent.
Six minutes in,
Zhao Jing Wei got a whiff of that, as Callam matched him stride for stride in a close-quarters scrap for the ball. The Trinidadian came out on top, and it passed to Elias Radauer running in from leftback, who proceeded to dribble past
Gene Filippone before beating Polish backup goalkeeper
Krystian Rykowski with a pinpoint drive.
Bacelar could not have liked what he saw, as the Birds flopped about without that third option in the middle, but held off from making changes. Sadly, his players were not able to discover a solution, and after more sharp play from colonel, Sotomayor broke loose with Berg's support, and sent his shot between Rykowski's legs.
It was getting slightly discomfiting for the 23 year-old Pole, who will have to do a lot more to convince the coaches that he can hack it at Grilled's level. That said, he did make a couple of good stops after that, and the Birds then pulled one back in the 40th minute after Mohd Safri pounced on some indecision from the otherwise rock-solid Sezgin Başsoy.
colonel nulled that immediately with
Rashid bin Ahmad unable to handle Berg's unorthodox moves, with the cross he sent in being put away calmly by Filip Józefacki. Former Cyprus youth international Başsoy was then at his best as he stretched to nick
Wong Ping Shun's response away from Zhao, forcing an awkward effort that was no trouble for Nic Walsh at all.
It didn't get better for Grilled in the second half, what with Mohd Safri still short of his best, despite his goal. It didn't help that their opponents were taking the match quite seriously despite it being a dead rubber, as Sotomayor's stiff challenge on
Woon Shun An in the 62nd indicated.
Sotomayor then put the lid on the win with his second and colonel's fourth, inserting himself between Grilled's central defensive duo. At the other end, Walsh denied Madaini's power-packed screamer with a strong hand, leaving the former Birds captain to stare at the sky in disappointment.
Bacelar had seen enough, even if the fans hadn't, and he signalled for his players not to overexert themselves for a lost cause.
Leong Wan Kang subbed in for Mohd Safri with ten minutes to go, but could not accomplish anything extra, while
Sandy Fu lent movement but little in the way of offence for Rashid at leftback.
