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| FIXTURE HISTORY |
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| Season 56 | L | 2 - 1 | Tournament (Playoffs) | | Season 48 | L | 5 - 6 | Tournament (Group Phase) | | Season 48 | W | 7 - 4 | Tournament (Group Phase) | | Season 44 | W | 1 - 0 | League | | Season 44 | L | 2 - 0 | League |
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Finest Of Edbes
Won Loses Shootout
Grilled's first-ever defeat in a Challenger Cup would come at the hands of auld rivals Edbe FC, but it was definitely not easy on either of the participants. The Sapphire Challenger Cup semifinal was destined to be a mudfest after nonstop overnight rain, and Edbe FC would match the Birds plod for agonizing plod throughout, and eventually reap the ultimate reward.
Although Edbe FC had been taken down by Batavia Cavaliers over the weekend, it was clear that they were saving themselves up for his occasion. On the other hand, while Grilled had pulled off one of the stunners of the season with their inexplicable 6-0 whitewash of Pudgy Penguins, their key men had expended themselves near-fully too, and there was a lingering sense that while Grilled's spirits were on a high, the flesh was in dire need of a rest.
Skipper
Tian Yonghang would be among the last to complain, and while the conditions were hardly suited to his playstyle, he slogged away from the first minute. After a few slips of his own, he nearly scored off Portuguese wingback Flávio Pimenta's awkward defensive footwork; it took a bad twist to his foot before Pimenta identified the problem as his boots, and had the kitman bring his spare pair out during a stoppage.
Edbe FC suddenly ran through the gears about then, and battered the Birds through Jānis Blūmiņš' pure aggression on the right. It was down to
Wong Tian Han to pick off the through pass before local veteran Abdul Samad bin Shaari could get to it. Edbe FC kept up the pressure, and got what they wanted when
Zhao Jing Wei was judged by Danish referee Oliver Skov to have pushed Cezary Firlit over inside the penalty area.
The call was hotly disputed by Zhao and his teammates, and camera evidence was inconclusive, but it of course stood. Edbe captain Pierre-André Maton hit it hard and honest into the bottom left corner to put his team ahead. Grilled could easily have let another in as they sloppily lost it from the restart, and Wong had to again be on his toes, to get a big hand to Blūmiņš' headed effort.
There was beginning to be real concern in the Grilled section about how the players would dig themselves out of this hole, but
Clément Meyer would shortly after offer some reassurance with his crisp equaliser after a rare string of completed passes. Even then, Firlit nearly caught Wong out with his first-time lob, but Grilled's Number One again managed to get his fingers to it.
It was unknown what was said in the dressing room during half-time, but the Grilled players clearly emerged with a whole new attitude. Although Edbe FC attempted to impose themselves as they had, the Birds would insist on taking the pace this time.
Low Aik Jia would skin both Blūmiņš and Maton in the 52nd minute along the goalline, and although his follow-up strike had next to no chance to go in,
Woon Shun An dove in and surprised Tan Soon Sze at the last instant.
This was much more like the Grilled that their supporters were used to, even if
Zhao Jing Wei was extremely lucky to stay on after recklessly cutting Krystian Zborczyk down, given that he could easily have already been on a yellow. All this was swiftly forgotten when
Chow Ying Lee made one of his lightning pulls foward several minutes later, though, and his near-instant finish was just too sudden for Tan to adjust to.
Thoughts of a cruise to the finals were immediately beaten back down by Edbe FC, who were beginning to really work their right wing again. With
Low Aik Jia still relatively ineffective defensively despite having improved his positional sense, it was an obvious weakness to gun for. He certainly failed to pick up on Blūmiņš yet again as Edbe kicked off, and the Latvian winger would put a clean header away this time.
Grilled would try to play keepball after that, but Edbe were far from done. All they needed was another sprint by Blūmiņš down the right, as
Gene Filippone struggled to cope with Firlit's movement. The Pole had his excellent half-volley scrambled onto the crossbar by
Wong Tian Han, but Pimenta happened to be right where the rebound went, and stabbed it in from point-blank to level it.
It was all too much for
Djan Bacelar to take, and Grilled's Brazilian head coach sought to shore up the weak flank by recalling Low and putting new signing
Clark Won on. Won was evidently under instructions to concentrate on shutting Blūmiņš down, given how he made straight for the Edbe winger, and while Won would not produce much going forward, Blūmiņš would not be able to roam as he did for the remainder of the match.
Indeed, Grilled would earn a great chance to put the game to bed, as Meyer rampaged up the left side with Won now handling the defensive duties. Diedrich Bohrenkämper mistimed the offside trap for once as the Frenchman cannily held his run back for just a second, but it would be for naught as
Zhao Jing Wei could not manage to put any power behind his finish in the end.
Edbe were now straining to make it to extra time, in a reversal of roles from the first half. The rain had thinned by now, but it was difficult to tell if this made their task harder, given that the ground had been pretty well torn up by the preceding eighty minutes of action. Tan had to come out once or twice, but would not be seriously troubled by anything other than mud stains.
This would also be the story of extra time, as the severe ponding combined with a pervasive general exhaustion curtailed hopes of a winner. Abdul Samad bin Shaari proved himself a capable ad-hoc central defender in this phase of the game, with Chow's few attempts at rushing the Edbe goal almost laughably stopped by the two-inch deep pool that their penalty area effectively had become.
It would be penalties, then, but only after the groundsmen had toiled away for ten minutes to dry a small patch about the penalty spot sufficiently. Grilled for their part had subbed
Krystian Rykowski on as one of their designated takers, relieving
Ling Fuquan. The first couple of kicks from both sides were close to perfect, and the drama really took off after
Wong Tian Han put it in the middle, before guessing right to deny Edbe's Krystian Zborczyk.
Unfortunately, it would not be a good day for more than one Polish kicker, and Grilled's own Rykowski would sink to his knees in despair after his impressive shot found the underside of the crossbar, only to come down a foot in front of the goalline. Blūmiņš would put his side level again with a very cool tap-in, while Liang Shuntian likewise kept his nerves to keep Edbe in it, after
Tian Yonghang had bounced his in off the left post.
It was sudden death now, and the already-sluggish pace of the kicks slowed further.
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim engaged in some gamesmanship by deliberately placing the ball as forward as he could justify, and although Tan didn't rise to the bait by contesting it, he could not read Mohd Safri's deft strike either. Former Arcturules trainee Abdul Samad bin Shaari didn't bother with such shenanigans, and sent
Wong Tian Han the wrong way despite a straightforward approach.
There appeared to be some deliberation in the Grilled ranks, as they had apparently exhausted their stock of volunteers. Finally,
Clark Won picked up the ball, took the long walk, and placed it exactly on the spot with quiet authority... only to send it a metre wide with the ensuing chip.
It was Edbe FC's to lose now, and despite the silent entreaties of the Grilled fans in attendance, the homegrown Tan Soon Sze wrote himself into club lore with a solid punt past his opposite number.
