LEXX 0 - 4 Grilled Birds
No Lexx Of Goals
Low Alight
The Birds strode into the semifinals of the Rook&Bishop as joint-top seeds on top of a resounding 4-0 win over ultra-defensive Cape Verde Division Three representatives LEXX, who thereby ended their participation without scoring. Left winger
Low Aik Jia was in his element against LEXX's beefy but static 5-5-0 formation, and his tireless picking at holes was rewarded with two fine goals.
Romanian trainer Adrian Cismas had built his team on the basis of an uncompromising five-man backline, and despite needing a win to advance, there was no sign that he was about to switch up his formula. Behind that was the charismatic Jesus Nunes, nicknamed "Wall" by his legion of fans, whose crop of facial hair made him look at least a decade older than his twenty-one years. Like Grilled's own
Wong Tian Han, the LEXX goalie had earned his spurs cleaning up in central defence as an outfielder.
This was evident by how willing he was to venture from the net, which proved very helpful early on as
Chow Ying Lee tried a couple of kick-and-runs. Indeed, they were doing pretty well for themselves defensively, up to the point where Low linked up with Chow in the 23rd minute, and together cut a swathe through all opposition before an elegant finish.
This was something that the LEXX backline was ill-equipped to deal with, and the emboldened Grilled side began forcing matters down the middle in earnest. Apparently, they were much more used to dealing with outflanking attempts, given that few reasonable sides would have considered trying to get past three men centrally.
Grilled were just such a side, though, and their doggedness led to a sudden second goal, courtesy of the vision of the returning
Woon Shun An, who threaded the needle to give
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim a one-on-one against Nunes. A similar release from
Zhao Jing Wei fed Low for 3-0 just before half-time, which practically settled the contest.
With little left to play for, LEXX came out a much more relaxed outfit for the second half, which paradoxically improved their defence further. Chilean skipper Ervigio Johnson began to play to his potential in the midfield, as they began to see more of the ball.
Low remained a constant threat, and he would not add to his tally largely due to bad luck, having at least two self-made efforts go narrowly wide. Luis Alcántara hedged his bets about this point, as he withdrew Woon and Zhao, while allowing
Lee Lee Hao and
Clément Meyer in for a warm-up.
The latter would add to his reputation for being a danger at corners with a no-nonsense headed finish in the 83rd minute, which would turn out to be Grilled's last shot on target with LEXX redoubling their bustle in the final countdown.
