Grilled Birds 6 - 1
akodo 
Akodo Ko-ed
Speed Kills
A lot had changed since the teams last met in II.3 a full twenty seasons prior, but the outcome remained unchanged as Grilled Birds made it three out of three against City side akodo. Only some 36000 bothered to make it down to The Cooking Pot, and those who stayed away looked to be vindicated as the visitors struck first after a bright start, but the Birds fought back to an overwhelming victory.
akodo had suffered through a slow decline in recent times, as they slid down II.3 before finally relegating, but had since bounced back with some vim. The fixture list had not been kind to them, unfortunately, and they were without a point coming into this game, after defeats against Arcturules and newbies.
They hardly played as that less-than-reassuring record might suggest in the opening exchanges, nonetheless, as they stuck to their signature expansive style. Former national playmaker Ng Kwang Min was particularly eager to venture forward, and his sharp exchanges with Hamiz Jalaluddin brought Grilled no end of distress.
It did get better for the bumbling hosts eventually, with captain
Tian Yonghang pulling off their first shot via a neat glancing header, but it didn't last. akodo regained control almost immediately, and the teenaged Ho Kum Kiong would celebrate his maiden league goal against the Birds, with a mazy run that
Clark Won didn't pick up on till it was too late.
Grilled had looked quite unbalanced up till now, as the supporters began to understand why
Djan Bacelar was hesitant to play
Low Aik Jia on the left. They were anticipating a tactical substitution to fix the issue, as
Hariharan Prabhu started stretching on the sidelines, but were then greeted by Tian's magnificent rocket into the roof of the net following the Birds' best combination thus far.
Chai Chin Li was further booked for scything
Ang Leong Kum down after he had released the final ball, to which he protested strenuously to no avail. The referee was likewise unaccomodating when
Rinor Isufi appeared to be hovering offside when Low tore down the left, and that 39th minute score gave the Birds the lead.
While that was perhaps
Low Aik Jia's first positive contribution of the match, it was a sign of better things to come for the two ambitious relative newcomers. The dark side of Isufi did make an appearance too, as he tumbled almost comically in a cringing attempt at getting a penalty. akodo's John Wan was livid at the attempt, but was mollified when Isufi got the yellow card.
akodo were starting to pick up again, when they were knocked out by a triple-decker flurry beginning from the 64th minute. Then,
Gene Filippone found himself in the clear during a particularly messy situation in front of Ibrahim bin Ali Hassan's goal, and his instinctive sticking of a leg out knocked it past the goalie.
Although Ibrahim had been doing moderately well up to that moment, he would promptly be found wholly inadequate against the speed of
Low Aik Jia. He hesitated to come off his line when Low looked to have pushed it marginally too far in taking on Chai, then tried to recover, and failed.
The akodo fans had to be wondering what could have been had first-choice keeper Khoo Wei Wai not been injured, especially after Low more or less did a repeat from the restart. Ibrahim looked morose picking the ball out of the net, but he was not about to get too much sympathy from the celebrating home support behind his goal.
Ibrahim would further have to watch as
Wong Tian Han offered a stark contrast with a wonder one-handed save off Ho's warningless strike in the 75th, before ending a miserable outing watching as
Rinor Isufi bagged Grilled's sixth in at his near post with nine minutes to go.
