Red Versus Blue
Che Inflicts Penalties
Ugandan Sapphire Challenger Cup holders AFC Ajax Bundibugyo arrived in Singapore to take on the Birds, and if that were not enough, both clubs are currently lying second in II.2 in their respective league systems. The parallels ended on the field, though, as Grilled welcomed
Woon Shun An back into the fold with six against the easy-going visitors.
Bundibugyo, who upset seven-time national champions Kampala Stars in the finals with a superlative display from Daniele Romito, were clearly not overly concerned at the result today as they let their reserves have a go. They kept only three starters from that day, wingbacks Albert Joja and Braulio Pérez, as well as 19 year-old Bulgarian sensation Petar Georgiev.
Georgiev alone was sufficient to sow chaos in Grilled's defence, as
Hilal Bakhtiar found it near impossible to come to grips with his movement. He was joined by German midfielder Siegmund Siebig in a classic two-man raid after five minutes, and only Siebig inexplicably pulling his shot wide saved
Dan Seng from letting one in so early.
Grilled were soon nipping at Bundibugyo after riding that initial storm, and
Chow Ying Lee was only too eager to get stuck in, narrowly avoiding being sent off straight for not pulling out of his hopeless chase against opposing goalie Abasi Kadogo. The yellow didn't slow Chow at all, and he would open the scoring in the 35th minute after some slightly dubious jostling for position as the pass came in.
Chow was then on hand five minutes later to rake a rebound in, making up for Kadogo's good diving save from a Mohd Safri thunderbolt.
Leong Wan Kang then upped it to three before Radu Vâlcu blew for halftime, as the badly overworked Jumaane Lwebuga had his studs caught in the turf. Lwebuga could only shake his head at his bad luck, as he picked the soil out in the aftermath.
The home fans were abuzz at the beginning of the second half, as they realised that the long-missed
Woon Shun An was back, the largely anonymous
Ling Fuquan having made way for him. If the commentators noticed a slightly prominent bulge at his groin, they made no note of it, and Woon signalled that he had well and truly recovered by launching himself into a full-blooded tackle on Georgiev from the word go.
Bundibugyo would claw one back in due time, as long-awaited wing talent Paul Chaurembo found an opportunity when Chow overextended himself down the right. Picking off
Tian Yonghang through a sharp exchange with German veteran Kasimir Zuniga, formerly of Honduran champions Pescaitos Fritos C.F., Chaurembo advanced on
Dan Seng confidently, and spoilt Seng's hitherto clean sheet with a delightfully-angled chip.
The brief reprive ended when
Pompeo Bellamoli worked his way inside with much pushing in the 57th minute, and the mood turned abruptly as malicious shoving began to appear. Vâlcu tried to let the game flow as well as he could, but he could not ignore Leong's wanton charge against Siebig, and finally booked the Grilled forward for that.
This put the lid on the aggression somewhat, and it became
Che Harun bin Sabtu's turn to shine. To tell the truth, the 38 year-old had looked decidedly unfit throughout, never posing much trouble to whoever was assigned to cover him. Che Harun turned this impression on its head in the 72nd minute, as he went over almost gracefully just as Lwebuga stuck his foot out inside the area.
Vâlcu was undecided at first, but awarded the penalty after consulting with his linesman, and Che Harun happily sent it right down the middle. The old fox then tested Kadogo with a surprise header that the youngster did well to tip over, only to concede another from the spot as Leong copied his senior's example, to Swiss player-coach Daniele Gnand's vocal disgust.
