Fat Lady Sings
Tian's Regret
He did as much to take the Birds up to the pinnacle of Singapore football as anyway, so it was in a way fitting that
Tian Yonghang put the seal on Grilled's three season stay in the S-League, after an incredibly draining 120 minutes that saw little separate them from singnet_utd.
On the back of five straight losses, their worst run in nineteen campaigns, not many gave Grilled much hope against II.1 champions singnet_utd. The faces were familiar but the forms almost alien, with it unclear exactly what they had to do to win. Tellingly, the visitors had abandoned their patented defensive stance for the match, instead taking Grilled head-on with an expansive 3-5-2.
The Birds gave them little cause to regret this decision, as singnet_utd opened with a ferocity that had Tian and company reeling. Former national midfielder Ling Zhicheng held nothing back against his former Lions colleagues, as he left
Woon Shun An flailing in the fourth minute with his exquisite turn. Only
Wong Tian Han's lightning reflexes kept that from being a goal... but it was only a sign of more to come.
If Grilled were waiting for the storm to pass, they would see nothing of the sort. The visitors guarded their initiative jealously, and had the Birds in reactive mode throughout the first half-hour, something they had been proven to be extremely uncomfortable in. Their pace out wide was of particular concern, and after Luigi Antonio Restelli had the beating of
Wong Ping Shun in the 18th minute, Greek wingback Tellis Rouvas nipped behind to stick the cross in.
The irrepressible Restelli made his own luck five minutes later, as he glided past the Birds defence with a grace belying his 33 years, after blindsiding
Lee Lee Hao.
Wong Tian Han could only get enough behind the ball to deflect it into the roof of the net, and it appeared as though the Italian might single-handedly win this for singnet_utd on his own at this point.
It took a classic sucker punch to get the jaded supporters to believe again.
Wong Tian Han had barely scrambled aside Hong Kunqi's headed from another Restelli ball, when
Low Aik Jia latched onto it and went on a madcap dash down the middle. singnet_utd reacted too late, and following a slick offload,
Tian Yonghang sent a slide-rule through pass for old comrade
Chow Ying Lee. Chow's leg almost seemed to buckle at the end, but stayed upright long enough to scuff it past Nicola Pillitu for 2-1.
While this was just what the Birds needed, they were far from out of the woods yet, as singnet_utd continued with their effective attacking system. While not especially inventive, their steady exchanging of passes kept Grilled on the ropes, and the effervescent Restelli nearly extended his side's lead once again. However, although his brilliant chip defeated Wong, it went narrowly over the bar.
Grilled's home ground advantage took its time to come through, but come through it did, and they finally began to resemble the hosts in this affair. singnet_utd were not exactly a young side either, and while they might have been buoyed by a more successful season, they had their shortcomings too.
Low Aik Jia might have received a yellow card for his crunching tackle on William Fougeroux in the 59th minute, but it could be read as part of the Birds asserting themselves.
This didn't take long to have an impact, and
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim thundered in a beautiful equaliser three minutes later. Grilled's champion may be 35 once the new campaign rolls about, but he showed that with an inch of space in front of him, he remains deadly with the ball on his favoured foot. Having ended the season on 250 career goals for his only club, he exceeded that milestone to instant acclaim from his fans.
There could have been another from the restart, as
Wong Ping Shun unleashed a devilishly-whirling speculative effort from way outside, but to Pillitu's relief that came off the angle between bar and post. The roles were well and truly reversed, and it was singnet_utd's turn to battle for survival. They looked extremely vulnerable for a while, with Turkish fullback Ömer Öykü cautioned for a potentially game-saving challenge on
Chow Ying Lee, but soon stabilized the situation with their depth of defensive know-how.
It came as no shock that the tie entered extra time - and what a start it was.
Rinor Isufi had barely taken
Chow Ying Lee's place, when
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim executed a play that will surely be spoken of for years to come. Receiving a harmless-looking ball to feet, he feinted outside and cut inside Ling Zhicheng, then proceeded to head off Pascal Durlinger before ducking between him and Jaakko Jämsén alike, to score straight from kick-off.
That was a goal worthy of keeping any side in the S-League, as the wild celebrations reflected. The Birds smelt blood, and singnet_utd had to reach within themselves to avoid being overrun there and then;
Woon Shun An should have put it beyond their reach with his volley pounded from the edge of the six-yard box, but Pillitu managed a magical save with his shoulder for that one.
Grilled would fall victim to an all-too common lapse of concentration, sadly. With 102 minutes gone,
Zhu Changchun lost the ball in almost farcical fashion after a late tackle by Fang Kunxian, attempting to roll it back after the whistle had gone. Luigi Antonio Restelli wasn't about to let that one go by, and lapped it up as the Birds' defence belatedly tried to call for a retake.
Wong Tian Han nearly stood aside as Restelli advanced on him, and only attempted a save at the last second, which unsurprisingly failed.
Argentine referee Santiago Ceballos was nearly mobbed by the Grilled players after the fact, but he stuck to his guns, awarding the goal. Worse, it was discovered that
Ling Fuquan had been inadvertently trampled by Franciszek Mostowski during the play, as the big Pole ran straight through him. Replays showed that both were looking the other way, but this will come as cold comfort to Ling, who had to be administered oxygen on the way out.
The match restarted with the Birds rather more subdued, and they nearly had the match stolen out from under their noses, as Pascal Durlinger went right at the barely-warmed up
Gene Filippone, but hit a weak effort at Wong. Play became increasingly disjointed as both sides were wary of risking it all, preferring instead to have it come down to penalties.
This was something that Grilled were not well-practised at, with their last competitive shootout coming some thirteen seasons back against The Match Losers in the Singapore Cup, though they did take that one easily. None of the five who struck that day remained in the lineup, however, with
Qassem Madaini watching from the stands.
Wong Tian Han did have some reputation at saving spot kicks, but it was not to be today.
Wong Ping Shun and substitute
Gene Filippone both picked the right side against Pillitu to begin with, with the singnet_utd goalkeeper catching Wong out with one straight down the middle in return, before the experienced Fang Kunxian sent Wong the wrong way with a bold hip-fake.
Wong Tian Han then gambled and won with a strike to the top left corner, while Frenchman William Fougeroux went back to basics with an exact grounder. Temperatures were rising, and after
Rinor Isufi and Ling Zhicheng held their nerve to strike very confident shots past the respective custodians, it came down to skipper
Tian Yonghang to extend the shootout.
His natural leadership abilities had never been doubted, and Tian indeed delivered a fine effort, just as he had done so many times during practice on this very pitch. However, Pillitu had guessed correctly, and clawed it away in time. The stands erupted, and despite the home fans desperately trying to distract singnet_utd's standout of the day Luigi Antonio Restelli from putting the final touch on a virtuoso performance, the Italian winger put his team back into the top flight - and Grilled out of it - with a crisp tap from his boot.
