Resurfacing
Tian Thunder
Grilled wobbled back onto track, with today's assured 3-1 home victory over Pearl Divers going some way towards erasing the bad taste of the catastrophe from last Sunday. Skipper
Tian Yonghang was at the forefront of a team effort that had the Divers floundering, and the visitors never looked close to reducing until Marian Mungiu's contribution in the 81st minute.
Turnout at The Cooking Pot was dismal, as less than forty thousand tickets were sold, although fans could hardly be blamed for staying away. There would be no wholesale shakeup of the Birds team, as predicted by some football newsletters, though, with
Djan Bacelar plumping for experience if anything.
Zhao Jing Wei, who had been absent in Grilled's previous heavy losses in the league, was back in the middle to provide a steadying hand.
Woon Shun An likewise made his debut for the season after a three week long layoff imposed by another unfortunate groin injury, and the two veterans soon reminded the home support of what they had been missing. Woon had lost none of his desire as he battered the Divers formation with painfully direct runs, and one such seventh minute incursion saw Divers' new Bolivian signing Gian Luca Gavanelli just about absorb Woon's rammed strike, only for
Tian Yonghang to pounce.
Divers had beaten United Warrior Team and Joker 9 with a finely-tuned short passing game, but they would not be allowed to get into their rhythm at The Pot, with the Birds harrying them without pause. Former U-20 playmaker Jimmy Ouyang, who had been so outstanding the last time the teams met, was forced into a questionable square pass in the 13th minute, and only top-drawer acrobatism from Gavanelli saved them from Tian's earth-shaking half-volley then.
Grilled weren't giving Pearl Divers any quarter, and
Wong Ping Shun charged past Mosè Corghi to make it 2-0 in the 27th. Corghi, who took Wong's shoulder barge right in his chest, protested to Turkish referee Yılmaz Toygun, but Toygun was having none of that. He would however reach for his cards immediately after
Chow Ying Lee felled Jaques Genz a couple of minutes later, and the game was held up for Genz to receive treatment.
In the end, Genz had to be helped off with a concussion, and Axel Mair was chosen by Divers head coach Nechifor Gherman to turn things around. Woon's effective dribble immediately from the restart indicated that little had changed, though, and Divers again had the quick-witted Gavanelli to thank for keeping the scoreline respectable.
Djan Bacelar evidently agreed that Grilled's robust tactics were working well, and the Birds doubled down on getting up close and personal in the second half. Pearl Divers had adapted somewhat too, and Rashid Postnikov tried to work his teammates into the game. Unfortunately for him, he tended to receive the ball much too far from the Grilled danger zone.
Wong sounded a timely warning with seventy minutes gone, as he escaped Theo Fels von Hartenstein's watch to rifle a very decent grounder into the side-netting. The German wingback would soon after come off the worst in a shin-to-shin impact with Wong, and be replaced by Talip Berfu. Wong tried to argue that it was a fair challenge, but Toygun was not to be dissuaded, and dealt his second yellow of the day.
The injury stoppage once more proved beneficial to the hosts, and
Chow Ying Lee's long-range chip was bundled over the crossbar by Gavanelli, with
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim closing in. Wong's corner kick resulted in Grilled's third goal anyhow,
Low Aik Jia winning a rare header that led to Tian lashing it in amidst the chaos.
This brough much-needed cheer to the home crowd, who had been steadily perking up as events onfield had unfolded their way. There would be a slight downer before full-time, as a lapse by
Lee Lee Hao allowed Marian Mungiu a free header on Postnikov's intelligently-delayed lob across the six-yard box, but 3-1 was nevertheless a considerable improvement on what they had to stomach in the last fortnight.
