Sommet Silenced
Zhu Can't Wait
Benin Division Two visitors O Sommet FC were dismissed without a goal from The Cooking Pot today, as native head coach Eric Gandonou set his sights on practising counterattacking tactics. Unfortunately, the seasonal rain made their planned runs less effective than they might have been, and Grilled moreover plugged two within the opening five minutes to further dampen their ardour.
Thrice third division champions, Sommet prided themselves on assembling a functional cosmopolitan side on a tight budget, with biggest signing thus far Ole Zacho clocking in at a shade under S$2.7 million. Zacho would not feature today, however, and it was well-travelled Italian captain Oronzo Mattone who took on the job of point man.
As it happened, Mattone hadn't so much as touched the ball, when Sommet went behind. Grilled had been stroking it about after kick-off, taking the measure of the wet grass, as Sommet's players retreated into their assigned posts. Nobody quite thought that
Zhu Changchun would cut loose from near thirty metres out, least of all Jonathan Gauthéron in the Sommet goal, and by the time he saw it coming, it was too late.
Gauthéron could at least point to the rain for limiting his visibility, but there was little excuse for
Remco van der Ban strolling through unquestioned a few minutes later. Jonas Nata was yelling for somebody to take him up, but with
Leong Wan Kang probing in front of him, Remco got in close enough to enjoy a relatively large target.
The worsening conditions meant that there wasn't much vintage football on show, though Sommet's defence did improve as Nata later executed a perfect recovery tackle on
Chow Ying Lee. Gauthéron was likewise better as he saved
Hilal Bakhtiar's fine long-distance strike, though Dutch centreback Franciscus van Teylingen couldn't escape a yellow for running into Bakhtiar after the ball had gone.
Colby Awyong came in for a very drenched Remco at the break, and the Birds trundled on as they had been doing. Swift movement was next to impossible at this point, but
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim wasn't picky about how to score, as he flailed through the wind and mud to get a finish off in the 50th minute.
The visitors' best chance for a consolation then arrived, as Nweke Gbadamassi's botched long pass proved a blessing in disguise. It opened space for the experienced José Tapia to scoot forward with the ball, and had it not been for the crossbar, Tapia would have made it 3-1.
That didn't transpire in reality, though, and after Awyong flipped a corner kick over Gauthéron, who had gone to ground early, Sommet had a last effort with six minutes remaining, but Franciscus had to watch glumly as a stray gust took his strike, which appeared headed for the corner of goal, up and over.
