Spurs Stomped
Isufi Announces Arrival
Two months after moving to Grilled, Albanian striker
Rinor Isufi has finally gotten about to making his presence felt, as he contributed a fine brace in the Birds' 7-0 mauling of the newly-established Cityspurs. The hosts, who had kept to their original squad, were up for the challenge, but rapidly faded after a brief spurt in the opening minutes.
Having just enjoyed a superb win in the league that saw young hotshot Nasrul Haq Jabal bang four in against the Tanjong Rhu Tigers, Cityspurs carried their bubbliness into this Cup fixture, and were actually driving the Birds against the wall early on. There was a roar of anticipation in the ninth minute when Jalal hemmed in a cross from the right which Leong Kang Aik reached with much contortion, only to send it wide.
There was then some unhappiness as the visitors ignored home appeals to stop play with Leong having pulled his hamstring in the attempt, especially after
Woon Shun An put it in at the other end. Referee Matti Ilmaniemi did not deem the injury significant enough to stop play either, though, and all Cityspurs could do was to put Shidqie Afham Ayyub on for Leong.
They then held the Birds admirably with constant harrying, but this was always going to tire them prematurely. Yeoh Chu Wai had put his height to good use as he warded
Rashid bin Ahmad's header away, but he was powerless against forwards
Leong Wan Kang and
Che Harun bin Sabtu, who scored on a breakaway and a free-kick respectively.
Rinor Isufi would break his duck some minutes later, as he combined delightfully with Chow down the left, with the two zipping past the Cityspurs defense handily. Enforcer Mazlan Yahyah tried but failed to stop Chow with a dangerous sliding tackle in the buildup, which brought him a yellow card after the fact.
Colby Awyong made a rare appearance for
Che Harun bin Sabtu in the second half, and was understandably not too much of a goal threat. It was not a problem in the circumstances, however, and
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim shaved the Cityspurs crossbar with his 52nd minute stinger. This brought another late booking, this time for Paul Brooks.
There was to be no second wind for the hosts as they were reduced to trying to contain the rampant Grilled attackers, with some success up till the 65th minute, when Chow again broke through. Woon then got his second of the day, with the unusually subdued
Tian Yonghang picking him out with a well-hit diagonal pass.
It was then Isufi again, as the striker hinted at an exciting future with the Birds, as he went all the way by himself after picking Abraham Ong's pocket in the centre circle. The pace of the game then cost Cityspurs Yahyah, and as for Grilled,
Joan Cisquell would come on for
Rashid bin Ahmad for the last five minutes.