No Monkey Business
Isufi Ignites
The Birds set about kicking off their Sapphire Challenger Cup adventure with assurance, as they dismissed Division Four side Monkey Maddnes by six goals to one. The hosts had just eaten a 0-6 defeat by Be Champions FC in the main cup, so they could at least take this an an improvement of sorts.
Grilled could not afford to let this one slip after their disaster at ATKM, and paraded a lineup composed largely of first-team members.
Rashid bin Ahmad and
Ling Fuquan did get run-outs at the back, while
Tian Yonghang dropped into midfield to accommodate
Rinor Isufi up front - a decision which paid off handsomely.
Monkey did have an able squad, but there remained a clear disparity in ability, which left homegrown skipper Tay Wei Yi carrying most of their hopes. The midfielder knew his way around their 4-5-1, but this was not enough by far, and Isufi got going after just seven minutes with a sharp clip from just outside the six-yard box.
This was definitely not enough to extinguish the home team's dreams just yet, and they responded with increased defensive effort, with Sathappan Reddy taking one for his team in illegally disrupting
Low Aik Jia's throw-in. Grilled persevered with their attacks, and it was 2-0 in the 31st minute,
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim doing his usual thing from a
Wong Ping Shun corner.
It wasn't that the Birds had it all smooth-sailing, though Monkey's big break of the half ironically backfired on them. Wong had to take a yellow card for holding Ho Choon Wee back; Ho however then goofed up in hitting it back in between several teammates, opening it up for a wholesale Grilled counter, which ended in
Rashid bin Ahmad scrabbling in the third.
The remaining five minutes were busy indeed, as the spirited Monkeys made an uninhibited play at getting one back at least. To that end, Tay brought down Isufi rather untidily, which the Albanian retaliated to by spitting in his general direction. Referee Hubert Hoiningen intervened with his card out before it degenerated into a scuffle, which calmed matters down for a moment.
Isufi then threatened to reignite emotions as he made a point of celebrating in front of the home fans after swinging a volley over Ong Ho Kok for his second. It would up being
Wong Ping Shun who would pay the price, as he was cut down by Fong Wee Yao upon receiving a pass. Perhaps influenced by the atmosphere, the referee somehow spared Fong the red card, to great displeasure from assistant coach Luis Alcántara.
With
Nicola Vandeneynde in on for Wong, Grilled kicked the second half off in a far calmer mood, which led to a quick start after Monkey's Umberto Pandiani had tested
Wong Tian Han with a surprise from out wide.
Low Aik Jia sought out space for himself down the left on the counter, and pulled back intelligently for
Tian Yonghang to up the score to 5-0.
The home fans were not a happy bunch at this stage, and there could have been few sights more irritating than the abrasive
Rinor Isufi completing his hat-trick off local boy Muhammad Izzaq's slip. His teammates were aware that he was flirting dangerously with a second booking with his provocations, at least, and ushered him away from the stands as quickly as they could.
Monkey Maddnes did have their minute in the limelight, as they stabilized and began troubling a now-relaxed Birds side. Still, they had to wait until Ong saved from Tian in the 73rd minute, before playing all the way back through a spread-out Grilled formation. Sathappan Reddy was home free after skipping past Rashid, and gave his team a welcome consolation with a worthy finish.
There could even have been more after another last-ditch stop from
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim allowed another counterattack, but Ho Choon Wee unfortunately hit the bar, and the game would end with hat-trick man
Rinor Isufi grinning as he left the field to a less-than-positive reception from the crowd.
