Coming Up Empty
Bartolo All Bothered
The Birds finally came up winners at Ground Zero on their fourth attempt, and there was no hint that it was merely a stroke of luck, as they continued heaping misery on The Void Deck with a 4-0 whitewash. The hosts were adamant in retaining the exact same lineup that had run Grilled close in the Ruby Challenger Cup final, but they would not be able to rewrite history as Grilled stymied them at every turn.
With
Zhu Changchun suspended and
Woon Shun An still recuperating, the midfield central trio of
Zhao Jing Wei,
Clément Meyer and
Lee Lee Hao picked itself. Zhao for one was even more fired up than usual over his absence from the finals game, and his presence at the tip of Grilled's midfield triangle posed many early problems for Void.
Wary of the attacking intent that had seen them go three down by the end of the first half then, The Void Deck sought to slow the pace down to their comfort, but the Birds were not cooperating.
Low Aik Jia seemingly didn't have an off switch, as he blazed up and down the left side like a man possessed, and when he did get it inside to
Tian Yonghang in the tenth minute, Tian's little jiggle was enough to make all of Antonio Gerardo Paoletti's preparations for naught.
Stung by conceding that early, the hosts regrouped, but were still considering their next move when the Birds went at them once more. They had the numbers, but were all too mechanical in their coverage, and after
Chow Ying Lee had instilled panic in the backline with his pointed run into the area, he very kindly drew it back for Zhao to lift in just under the bar, for the second goal.
The supporters, who had been taunting the Grilled players with their poor record at this ground, also became uncertain at this turn of events. Iranian coach Ahmad Tavousi barked instructions at his men, but Grilled were in full flow by now, and there was no stopping Low from adding a third in the seventeenth minute as he glided into the middle uninvited.
At this stage, it was only Tibor Bodnár's heroics that kept the scoreline respectable - the Hungarian made multiple incredible stops as the Birds tested him again and again throughout the remainder of the half, with especially notable saves off Zhao and
Gene Filippone; for their part, Void's brightest spot was Italian winger Paolo Lo Bartolo, who probably got the better of
Wong Ping Shun in their confrontations today, but this alone was far from enough to turn the tide their way.
Half-time saw the stadium slightly emptier, but a rested Void did then create their best opening of the day. Finally presented with a clear sighting, Mariusz Ginko reprised the mighty right foot that had put Woon out of commission, only for
Wong Tian Han to demonstrate his worth by traversing almost the length of the goal to somehow keep that one out.
Zhao, who could easily have had a hat-trick today, was then denied by the woodwork after a very well-considered dash in the 54th minute. He pulled away from Void's central defenders just as new partner Lee played it on, but once again Bodnár instilled enough doubt in him to throw his shot off.
The hosts were at least going at it by now, and they were probably worth a goal at least, all things considered. Unfortunately, it was not to be, and even after Paoletti broke unhindered into Grilled's six yard box following sustained pressure, the sweeper failed to score as he buried his grounder into the left post. Tavousi threw his clipboard down in disgust at that, as not even a consolation appeared to be forthcoming.
It would indeed only get worse, as Tian wowed with a wonderful scissors kick goal for Grilled's fourth of the day. This was difficult for the home faithful to take, but none more so than Bartolo, who could only watch as all his hard work went to nothing. The normally placid winger finally lost control in the 84th after he was crowded out with no backup, and lashed out with a petty shove on
Ling Fuquan, in full sight of the referee. That was an immediate red card, which made a sad conclusion to an initially promising game.
