Experience Before Youth
Frontmen Feast
Affiliates Grilled Birds and Farmer Bunnies faced off for the first time since their formation, with The Cooking Pot playing host. While the attendance was slightly lower than might have been expected on a lazy Sunday morning, it remained worth the while for the thousand and a half die-hards who graced the occasion.
After the club chairmen had said their few words, the exhibition got underway, with Bunnies an overwhelming underdog despite both sides fielding weakened selections.
Che Harun bin Sabtu was the Birds' nod to sentimentality, while teenager
Han Jia Kian had a debut to treasure as he shared the centre circle with
Ermis Ftenopoulos for the kick-off.
Bunnies recognized that the best tack was to hunker down with five at the back, but were of course at a severe disadvantage, and there were few raised eyebrows when
Chow Ying Lee cut through to put Grilled ahead in the 14th minute. There were more pulses set racing when Bunnies'
Milán Bolgár made a clean break for it six minutes later, but with
Krystian Rykowski playing his angles well, Bolgár could only put it into the side netting.
The visitors did not lack for industry, and defenders
Marcus Tsum and
Au Kong Seng picked themselves up bravely after trying to stay close to the Birds' rather more hardy veterans. This combined efforts made
Cheong Kong Ting far less eventful than it could have been, though
Rinor Isufi still extended Grilled's lead from a header, with some unexpected aid from
Pek Rong Yau.
Being merely two down was probably better than the Bunnies deserved, with
Lee Lee Hao alone having found the woodwork a couple of times; Bunnies were not completely passive, though, and their German national
Berndt Weißhaus found the inclination to bamboozle
Tian Yonghang with a nifty drag-back, which both the crowd and Tian appreciated.
Elias van Dal made a couple of half-time subs, with
Lew Jia Chuan and
Taufiqillah Aza taking over for
Ibad Hanis and
Au Kong Seng. These fresh legs did power Bunnies to an energetic restart, and
Han Jia Kian nearly enjoyed a dream introduction to the senior ranks, as he came upon a one-on-one opportunity against Rykowski. The Polish goalie was on his toes, though, and made a fingertip save.
Tian Yonghang was far smoother against Cheong at the other end after he had been put through by
Clément Meyer, with the Bunnie goalkeeper barely having the time to get down before Tian had released his shot. Chow then put in the fourth and the last with fifteen minutes to go, while Isufi and
Ling Fuquan put theirs over.
It was then time for more history, as
Domenik Bögengang and
Qassem Madaini came on to while away the last ten minutes. That said, they were hardly passengers, and Bögengang might have claimed a keepsake had the Birds been interested.
