First Gem
Safri Sets Bar
Grilled captured a national challenge cup on their maiden attempt, as they survived a strong reply from familiar opponents The Void Deck to see it out 3-2 in regular time. The fact that this was mostly achieved without two starting midfielders bore testimony to the Birds' depth of talent in that department, as the backups stepped in without missing a bit.
Vice-captain
Zhao Jing Wei was known to be unavailable after his late injury in the morale-sapping home defeat to Ropelearner FC, which led to
Clément Meyer starting in his preferred central position. Void's main concern was Italian wing wizard Paolo Lo Bartolo, but he would be passed fit on matchday, to their supporters' intense delight.
Bartolo was heavily involved from the get-go, constantly engaging
Wong Ping Shun down their shared flank, and despite not having gotten the better of Grilled in their latest five meetings, were more than a match in this period. Something had to give under all this stress, and indeed the moment came - and in quite horrifying fashion.
Void were, as always, ranging about the fringes of the penalty area in an attempt to work out promising shooting angles, which the Birds shut down as best as they could; there was, therefore, nothing out of the ordinary when
Woon Shun An rushed at Mariusz Ginko as the latter shaped to blast one on the turn - if not for Ginko inadvertently sinking his studs squarely in the unfortunate Woon's groin on the follow-through.
The stadium hushed to a man, and the camera operators retained the presence of mind to cut away, to spare the weak of heart the sight of this offence against humanity. More than a few players blanched at the sight, and medics from both sides rushed to tend to the stricken Woon, who had however by then rolled metres in unfalsifiable agony.
Clément Meyer, having witnessed the damage first-hand, closed his eyes and crossed himself poignantly.
For once, nobody was in a hurry to restart the match, and there was some awkwardness as the fans considered whether it was appropriate to clap as the sedated Woon was rushed off on a stretcher.
Nicola Vandeneynde marched solemnly on as his replacement, and Void, having been awarded the restart on the basis of no foul having been technically committed, freely played it to
Wong Tian Han.
The somber intermission was soon put behind, though, and Grilled came out the better for it.
Low Aik Jia made a few strong runs, which eventually won the Birds a corner, and
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim marked his 250th competitive start for his only club with the full-on flying headed goal that had been his trademark since the youth ranks.
This decisively turned the match in the Birds' favour, and eight minutes later, Wong turned from provider into scorer. The inspired winger had raised his game for the occasion, and none could get near him when he peeled off to the centre after a fake wide run. His finish was actually almost directly at Void's goalkeeper, but such was the force behind it that Jose Manuel Markmann could barely deflect it.
The worsening conditions had by this time severely curtailed the more technical fellows on show, and it was down to the big hitters; Bartolo came into his own in the 38th minute as he sent one almost perfectly at the top corner from over twenty metres out, but
Wong Tian Han was watching, and made the save look almost easy.
It was all getting very messy by now, and it went from bad to worse for Void, with their second winger Thibault Chauvin pulling his hamstring. Aleksander Burczyk had barely made his way on, when the momentarily-unmarked
Low Aik Jia broke free, making his way half the length of the pitch before Gaetano Xausa appeared to take the ball off him cleanly enough.
Referee Rachid Godoy didn't see it that way, to the disbelief of the Void fans, and their worst fears were realised when he pointed to the spot. Wong took his sweet time positioning the ball on the relevant marking, by now mostly washed away, but there was nothing untidy about his uncharacteristic but effective sidefoot in off the post.
Just as Grilled were about to relax, Void reminded them that the game was not over by a long shot, as they caught the Birds napping in added time.
Ling Fuquan's tackle on Bertrand van Boheemen was half-hearted, and Brazilian wingback Napoleão Zoguito didn't miss a beat with his first-time strike off the layoff. There was nothing
Wong Tian Han could do, as the world-class effort rattled in off the underside of the bar.
Still two goals up, and with conditions not encouraging offensive play,
Djan Bacelar retooled Grilled to drag it out in the second half, which quickly became apparent as the normally-positive but now-depleted midfield grimly held it up as long and as uglily as they could. This didn't sit well with the Void fans, but Zhu and company stuck to their guns.
Some neutrals would probably have seen Antonio Gerardo Paoletti's 75th minute stunner as just retribution for the anti-football, but not even that brought a reaction from the Grilled players, who looked determined to protect what remained of their cushion to the bitter end.
They would eventually be vindicated, as the deteriorating turf made even running difficult, and Burczyk was carded as he tried to harass Vandeneynde into releasing the ball. Low nearly caught them off guard with a spectacular unsupported dribble in the 83rd, but
Tian Yonghang could not reach the inbound cross, and wound up collecting a suspension for his next game piling onto Loffredo.
With his bet paying off, Bacelar ordered his players to dig in for the remaining minutes, to the extent of telling
Gene Filippone to walk the long way around when being substituted. The referee didn't look on that kindly, and signalled that he was adding the time wasted back on, but Void couldn't find the breakthrough they needed, handing Grilled their first Challenger Cup.
