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| FIXTURE HISTORY |
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| Season 56 | W | 3 - 7 | League | | Season 55 | W | 5 - 0 | Tournament (Group Phase) | | Season 55 | L | 5 - 2 | League | | Season 55 | D | 2 - 2 | League | | Season 51 | W | 6 - 4 | Tournament (Group Phase) |
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At Long Last
Grilled's Wait Over
The Birds confirmed their return to the top flight of Singaporean football with three unanswered goals against Scallop Soccer Team, after an absence of eighteen long seasons, in front of another bumper attendance of near 93000 at The Cooking Pot. It was the best possible conclusion to a season that had seen them breeze by most of the league competition while picking up the Ruby Challenger Cup, and all the more fitting for being sparked by two academy players who had endured through the Birds' then-decline.
Tian Yonghang and
Zhao Jing Wei might have witnessed the Birds flailing in the basement of the second division when they were contemplating what club to try out for, but there was no doubt where their allegiances lay, and after taking slightly divergent paths through they development, would this day be reunited as captain and vice-captain of the side, respectively.
The prospect of being part of a big landmark in Grilled's history had drawn a very lively crowd indeed, with basic seating sold out soon after the tickets were released. The only way the day could be spoilt was if the visitors could deal the Birds a huge defeat, but particularly with Spanish pivot Josep Oriol Puell suspended for the occasion and his counterpart Jorge Valtierra kept in reserve, not many gave Scallop much chance at that.
As Bacelar had hinted at, sacrifices had to be made, with the ever-reliable
Clément Meyer missing out on a start.
Ling Fuquan was another notable omission, as
Lee Lee Hao was again preferred over him in the libero position. With an eye on an unavoidable qualification match, the visitors responded with a 4-5-1, leaving no place for Italian schemer Moris Silvestri.
Scallop were clearly intent on getting it over with while taking as little damage as they could, and trainee midfielders Cheong Tong Qiang and Ng Long Shi did an admirable job of covering Grilled's rather more seasoned campaigners.
Woon Shun An appeared to appreciate the latter's workrate, going by the friendly pat on the shoulder given after being pressed into a backpass.
Business was still business, though, and the understrength Scallop representatives steadily gave ground against Grilled's calculated advances. There had to come a point where the willingness to hustle was no longer enough to cover them all, which arrived in the 21st minute when Tian set himself up on the edge of the penalty area, to get the celebrations going with a magical chip on the turn, that even Claudio Fasani couldn't see coming.
Five minutes later, the party was well and under way after Zhao followed up with a more conventional but no less effective poke into the bottom corner, following
Wong Ping Shun's victorious duel against Scallop player-coach Ignacio Guergue. Had Carlo Gambardella been at his usual post, it could have been different, but Guergue showed no signs of regretting his decision to conserve his squad.
Two would be the limit of Grilled's lead going into half-time, as Alfredo Cardil did as well as he could protecting his backline, under the circumstances. This left him with a yellow card for pulling back on Zhao's jersey as a last resort, but there were no hard feelings as the Grilled midfielder was in an understanding mood.
The buzz stayed through the interval, with little attention being paid to results elsewhere for once.
Zhu Changchun then really got the supporters going with a slightly-fortunate third, as he got in the way of
Lee Lee Hao's flier coming off the outside edge of the upright. The message that he received from his teammates was that they all counted, and that from the visitors was that they were in no hurry at all to restart the game.
With all in present arriving at a tacit understanding, the second half only superficially resembled a football game, as the Birds rolled the ball lazily around the center circle. Still, it was hard to see who could have possibly objected, even elsewhere in the league, with the outcome already effectively settled.
Cheong even got some encouragement from the home fans for his daring in trying to take on Grilled's backline with his speed, which had some effect until
Low Aik Jia made it his duty to track the former Charis FC youngster. Bacelar was the very picture of contentedness on the bench, with his only act in this period being to give
Ling Fuquan a walk-on role, with five minutes left.
There would not be long to wait after that, but the fans weren't in any rush, having lasted through so many lean years. Still, Portuguese referee Marco Gonçalves was not above pleasing, and blew for full-time right on the dot, at which Tian booted the ball deep into the gallery - somebody would have a splendid token to remember this day by.
