The Circle Complete
Che Cracks Four
Grilled Birds concluded their flag-chasing quest - for the moment, anyway - with Suriname II.3 champions Currieboysz' visit to The Cooking Pot today, which meant that representatives from all 128 Hattrick nations had strutted their stuff in their Jurong stadium.
Coincidentally, TheSouthParkCows from the same country were also the Birds' last stop on their multi-seasonal world tour, and to give the event even more weight, the guests are also the holders of their national Ruby Challenger Cup.
For all the drawn-out preliminaries, though, it soon got very serious on the field of play, with Grilled extra-determined to toast the occasion with plenty of goals. Skipper for the day
Che Harun bin Sabtu made it his personal mission, as he looked to have shed ten years off his thirty-eight in taking over the first half by himself.
It all began innocuously enough, with a neat hanging corner kick that gave
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim the springboard he needed to open the game up. When Mohd Safri repaid the favour by earning a penalty that Che Harun then converted, there were still few signs that he would go on to light it up.
Things really began to click for the veteran two minutes later, when
Low Aik Jia's thrust up the left found him with a delightful piece of improvisation to nick it over Assi Kammer. The hat-trick came in due time, from an inch-perfect free-kick lifted over Currieboysz' defensive wall.
The action slowed down for a bit here, as Grilled seemed content with their generous lead, and did not begin to get going again until fifteen minutes into the second half, when
Gene Filippone rose highest to head in from
Clément Meyer's right-wing cross.
Low Aik Jia was probably trying a bit too hard when he went in on Kammer wantonly, leading to the second yellow of the game after one for Andreas Mikalsen earlier on. It was then Che's turn again, as he knocked it home from
Chow Ying Lee's fine passback, coming after his initial effort had been batted away by Kammer.
Lee Lee Hao then joined Low in the referee's book for similarly overeager tackling, before late goals from Mohd Safri and
Clément Meyer ended Grilled's hosting journey on an auspicious eight-note.
