Almost Starstruck
Supersub Zhu
Although it was
Chow Ying Lee who scored the goals today, it will be the oft-unsung
Zhu Changchun who set Grilled back on the right path against an unyielding All Stars Team, who came within eighteen minutes of their first ever victory against the Birds. They will have a while more to wait, though, as they saw a repeat of last season's 2-4 outcome.
Still smarting over last week's shutout at The Cooking Pot, Stars nevertheless kept faith with that lineup, thereby denying former Grilled man Safri bin Mohamad a reunion. Despite having garnered 13 national caps, the forward had been very sparingly used after his injury against Tanglin Winners FC, leading to some concern over his condition.
While Stars' Woodlands stadium was fairly sparsely attended, those who came were extremely vocal in support of their team, and the hosts were moved to look a completely different side in terms of aggression. Brian Kearney made it a point to irritate the Grilled defenders as much as he could get away with, and even scored in the 20th minute only to have it disallowed, and then get booked, for blatant jersey-pulling beforehand. Obviously, the home fans didn't appreciate that.
They would have much to be happier about, as Stars kept coming out ahead in the fifty-fifty challenges, and they again came close when Metin Hadin trapped Jacenty Skrzypski's cross beautifully in the 24th minute. Only a courageous full-body block from
Rashid bin Ahmad prevented the goal then, but there would be no stopping Kearney rifling home after
Gene Filippone mistimed his clearing header.
That got the Stars fans up on their feet, but only until Rashid returned the Birds to level terms with his classy header off
Low Aik Jia's inswinger from the left, barely two minutes later. Ahmet Bolkan was visibly disappointed at letting Low through, but unfortunately a week was definitely not enough time for him to gain enough pace to match Low in a fair footrace.
Grilled were now back to the rapid pass-and-go tactics that had been employed to such devastating effect last Sunday, but Stars had adapted and were negating them by sitting deeper. Half-time came and went, and
Tian Yonghang fired the first shot of the second half after being put through by
Zhao Jing Wei, only for Harald Colman to pull out a reaction stop.
Stars then took the lead for the second time, after containing Grilled fairly comfortably for almost half an hour - 33 year-old Spaniard Erlantz Garrido Ochando proved that while his stamina might not be what it once was, his top speed had not yet waned, as he burst past a surprised
Wong Ping Shun upon nicking the ball upfield with his first touch. Rashid came up to meet him, but a razor-sharp turn left the Grilled defender hanging, before a wonderful chip put it over
Wong Tian Han.
Sensing that their time had finally come, the Stars supporters began singing about victory.
Djan Bacelar had other ideas, though, and immediately after Ochando's goal went in, he signalled for an attacking substitution -
Zhu Changchun as an attacking sweeper, instead of Rashid's more traditional role.
A roll of the dice it was, but it paid off more handsomely than Bacelar dared imagine; Zhu's addition tipped the balance, then wavering between the sides, decisively in Grilled's favour, and Stars were simply unprepared to handle an extra maniac running at them at every opportunity. Backpedalling, they conceded the equaliser as
Chow Ying Lee tapped in Wong's speculative low cross in the 77th minute.
Before the stunned Stars players had a chance to recover, the Birds twisted the knife in, as they battered their way straight through the middle after Tian rushed the ball down on kick-off. There was next to no subtlety as even the wingers converged down the centreline, but there did not need to be, as the heavily outnumbered Stars defenders could only watch as
Zhao Jing Wei came through with the ball to give Grilled their first lead of the day.
The mood in the stadium changed dramatically at this, and although the gallery gave a last attempt to rally the troops, Chow silenced them with a sharp finish that took him up to second in the Golden Boot chase.
