Jantan Jefe Jalan
Chow Sendoff
He might not have done all that much in his own testimonial, but there was no denying that
Abdul bin Jantan had a ball of a time in Selangor, where Grilled put six past three-time Malaysian national champions Jefe United in a light-hearted exhibition.
It might have been slightly unsporting for the Birds to have fielded several of their big guns, when the hosts held current marquee player Sirvan Haj Alizadeh back, but it was all in good fun after all. Moreover, Jefe did deploy Israeli first-teamer Omer Yaish, with Thiago Marca and Massimo Piacentini providing a dash of spice.
The man of the day remained, of course,
Abdul bin Jantan, who was handed a free role, but essentially operated from the hole. It was pretty apparent that he was nowhere near his peak, and he wisely restricted himself to placing high-percentage short passes, which his fellows were more than willing to indulge him in.
Jefe United were not making this too easy, and it took a smooth piece of work to unravel their defence in the seventh minute. Academy graduate Muthaiah Oruganti had been covering his man doggedly, but would be caught off stride by Tian's no-look backheel that was read by
Clément Meyer. The crowd was of the opinion that it was offside, but referee John Puma let the goal stand.
Abdul bin Jantan got the assist that the team had been waiting for, when his 26th minute lift was flicked on over teenaged English goalkeeper Christopher Wale, making only his second appearance for Jefe United, by
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim. This was aided by the rainy conditions as Jamaluddin Rashid Jahid appeared on course to cut it out, only to be stopped by a hidden mudhole, to his evident disgust.
Popular Jefe player-coach Ahmet Turan Yüce got cheers each time he obtained the ball, but
Gene Filippone was not in a generous frame of mind. His on-field coaching was effective though as the hosts finished the half as the stronger side, if without testing
Dan Seng seriously.
Grilled made two changes during half-time, the first of which had
Rashid bin Ahmad taking over in defence from
Zhao Jing Wei. It was
Chow Ying Lee's entrance for Mohd Safri that really primed the remainder of the match, however, and must have given the coaches second thoughts as to whether to allow him to leave.
The former Singaporean national U-20 striker may not be as blazingly quick as he had been in his heyday, but the opponents soon found that maybe eighty percent of a prime Chow remained no joke to defend against. After Yüce got his opening warded away by Rashid, a few long passes saw Chow matched against Oruganti in a solo duel, which ended with the latter put out by Chow's incredible acceleration from a standing start.
Chow followed this up with a very similar finish in the 73rd, in which he evaded Wale for good measure. Jefe United evidently felt that they had been lenient enough hosts, and pressed for a consolation, but wound up attacking into a sudden spate of wind. Bolivian Thiago Marca attempted to make up for it with his silky dribbling, but the wet grass severely limited his effectiveness.
There was a brief rush to try and get
Abdul bin Jantan on the scoresheet, but Jefe United weren't prepared to be
that magnanimous. Yotam Tzur appeared almost apologetic as he dispossessed Abdul multiple times, which the retiring veteran took in good grace.
Rashid bin Ahmad then made it 5-0, pouncing on a poorly-cleared corner, while
Dan Seng kept Omer Yaish from being able to get one back. There was even time after that for
Chow Ying Lee to complete his hat-trick with a cheeky dragback and lob, after which he very nicely gifted the match ball to
Abdul bin Jantan as a souvenir.
