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| FIXTURE HISTORY |
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| Season 53 | L | 4 - 7 | Tournament (Group Phase) | | Season 26 | W | 1 - 4 | Cup | | Season 23 | L | 4 - 3 | Cup |
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Black Humour
Firing Blanks
Grilled were unceremoniously bundled out in the fifth round of the Singapore Cup, as Joker 9 rode on courtesy of the dead-eye finishing of Spanish Number Nine Víctor Iriztain. It might have been a match that the Birds did not quite deserve to lose, but on the other hand, they didn't make a good case for winning it either, looking at the number of openings that went begging.
Indeed, the Grilled supporters were in party mode even before the kick-off, with few pundits having given Joker much of a chance, especially given that their national midfielder Ang Pin Jing was out due to emergency surgery on his knee. This might have been just what the doctor ordered for Joker, on hindsight, as they played with the freedom of a side with nothing to lose.
Next to them, the Birds seemed rigid and hesitant, and it was soon apparent that their opponents were enjoying the early stalemate much more. Radu Stănculescu for one certainly wasn't shy about possible embarassment, as he let fly from some thirty metres out - only to nearly humiliate
Wong Tian Han as the lottery shot dipped precariously close by the crossbar.
It took some cynicism from
Clément Meyer for Grilled to get their first strike on target, as the Frenchman ignored cries to stop the game after his hard collision with Jokers icon Mohd Rosedy Rambli. Leaving the former national wingback on the ground, Meyer forged on to boos from the stands, and laid it on nicely to
Tian Yonghang, who however didn't get good contact.
Despite that, Grilled should by all accounts have been ahead, given how often they were playing it inside the Jokers penalty area, but one way or another, it didn't go in. Then, in the 35th minute, Kim Ng lobbed it straight up the middle, and Iriztain simply outleapt
Rashid bin Ahmad to power a bullet header into the top corner.
A header of such force didn't seem possible with what little run-up Iriztain had, but the fact was that Grilled were now chasing the game. Once again, Tian had the opportunity to respond almost immediately, shaking free of Rambli at just the right instant, but Mexican goalie Edson Magallón had read the angles too well.
If Grilled were uptight during the first half, they positively seized up in the second, as the players settled into a routine of passing it about at length before losing it forward.
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim nearly made one on his own in the 56th, but Magallón tipped it aside, and upcoming star Narayan Naik almost made them pay with an excruciatingly close shave on the counter.
The double whammy then came, as Joker's Victor Meda ranged upfield given the opportunity, and claimed a corner kick off
Woon Shun An's defensive block. Chinese skipper Wei Shuangyuan dropped it smack in the middle of the area, and who was waiting but Iriztain, who scattered men like tenpins as he flung himself at the ball. Wong again had no chance as it zipped by him.
Now completely frantic, the Birds began upping their pace past the point of good sense; however, despite some potentially costly mistakes, this new tack eventually worked out, as
Wong Ping Shun drove his way down the right side using sheer power. He then cut in along the touchline, completely surprising Lokmalhakim bin Raja Hassan, and sought out
Zhu Changchun, who did the rest with a carefully-placed effort.
A second appeared to be on the cards as Joker's organization began to unravel against the suddenly-fluid Grilled offence, but the Birds simply could not conjure up the required goal in the remaining time.
