|
| FIXTURE HISTORY |
|
| Season 57 | W | 6 - 2 | League | | Season 57 | W | 6 - 3 | Cup | | Season 57 | L | 5 - 4 | League | | Season 53 | L | 0 - 5 | Tournament (Group Phase) | | Season 38 | L | 2 - 4 | Qualification |
| |
|
|
Sparked Back To Life
Captain Fantastic
The Birds' woes appear to have come to an end, as they achieved their first-ever league victory at Isle of Flames Arena. Newly-inducted national squad member
Tian Yonghang was at his inspirational best as he swept Grilled to a three-nil lead by half-time, which they then defended adequately.
It has not been often that Isle of Flames have been winless in their first two games, and their famously demanding fans were both restless and expectant - an opening draw against singnet_utd was not beyond reasonable bounds, and the away loss to Pearl Divers stung, but could have been a one-off. Surely they would set the record straight against the disspirited Birds visitors?
The commentators soon noted Bronisław Grzejda's bold asymmetric defensive setup, which was clearly aimed at restricting
Chow Ying Lee and
Low Aik Jia's speed down the left. If
Wong Ping Shun thought that it was a sign of disrespect, he didn't quite punish it, as Flames set the tenor of the match to a slow march.
This calculated pace was just what Flames wanted, as they sought to pry Grilled's not-even-very-solid defence apart step-by-step. A roundabout of passes in the sixteenth minute did just that, and Swiss centreback Nic Schafrath burst from deep to apply the coup de grace, only for
Wong Tian Han to catch him in mid-backswing.
Loud appeals to Austrian referee Dieter Öztürk for a penalty had no effect, and it was the Birds who emerged the stronger. Grzejda's decision to double-team Low began to look wise as the dynamic winger began to get into stride, but even that was not enough when he lost Marius-Ştefan Tufeanu with a prodigious turn of pace in the 27th minute. Neither Schafrath nor Bronisław Zolich could make up the lost ground in time, as Low raced inside to deposit the ball past Jerome Wiles.
Now slightly unsure, the Flames backline were uncharacteristically slow to adapt as Grilled began slowly assuming the initiative. After several minutes of reactive action, they neglected to spot
Tian Yonghang watching and waiting on the edge of the penalty area, and
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim duly lifted it forward to him. Wiles was out in a flash, but Tian's chip was even quicker.
The disbelieving Flames supporters were then thoroughly silenced six minutes after that, as the free space surrendered to
Wong Ping Shun finally took its toll. With Sander Temmerman struggling to contain Wong on his own, the latter sent crosses inside with regularity, and a fluffed interception from Schafrath left
Tian Yonghang with an absolute sitter.
0-3 down by forty minutes was simply not supposed to happen here, and Flames were determined to at least reduce their deficit before the break. They could very well have, as some lazy tracking back on Grilled's left gave Quentin Debert a free shot on Wong, but the French winger cut it too tightly with his grounder.
This would be a splendid result - if Grilled could keep it - and there was every indication that they could do that. With a lukewarm reception from the home fans, Flames were just going through the motions once the game restarted, and they were fortunate that
Low Aik Jia was over-anxious to pull the trigger after
Lee Lee Hao helped a corner on to him.
The eleven-time S-League champions would not go down that easily in the end, and their revival coincided with a response from their fans. As reminders of their glories came ringing through the stadium, Flames began recovering their composure, and after some devastatingly direct passing in the 61st minute got one back through former Austrian youth international Ervin Lakatos.
It took only five minutes after that for Flames to be well and truly back in the chase. Debert set up an overlap for Tufeanu on the right side, who then pulled it back for Lakatos while Richard Stetson occupied
Gene Filippone's attention. Lakatos would make no mistake, and Flames were now just a single goal from equalising.
Their impetus slowed after this, however, and not even repeated entreaties from the stands could rouse them further. Instead, it was Grilled who were the more adventurous despite still holding the lead, and this positivity led to Stetson having to bring
Clément Meyer down in the 80th minute.
The Frenchman had the presence of mind to take it quickly even as the referee ran up to deliver the yellow card, and the Birds sealed the win in the ensuing scramble, as
Chow Ying Lee streaked through on the right flank.
