Iron Quenched
Lee Leads Charge
Lee Lee Hao sent the Birds into the finals of the Rook&Bishop tournament, coming to the rescue after a disastrous beginning in the semifinals against Bulgarian Division Four side Iron brigades. Two conceded goals either side of a missed penalty threatened to take the wind out of Grilled's sails, before they were snapped out of their funk by the former U-20 midfielder's never-say-die exertions.
Iron brigades did not have it easy in getting this far, as they qualified only after nabbing three from behind against Depredador Villarrobledo F.C.; this, however, appeared to have granted them an uncommon impetuousness as they lined up against Grilled, with Kuzman Traykov signalling their intent early as he advanced fearlessly with ball at feet, straight from the kickoff.
Perhaps slightly complacent, Grilled were slow in reacting to Iron brigades' directness, and it was all
Ling Fuquan could do to minimize the immediate danger by putting it behind, with Lasse Saxvik breathing down his neck. That turned out to be a false sense of security too, as big Lyubomir Markov duly pummeled in the ensuing corner by climbing above two men.
The Birds looked to hit back without delay, and it so nearly went their way after
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim took a hand to the face from Viktorimas Vazbys just inside the Iron brigades penalty area.
Wong Ping Shun placed it on the spot, as he had done so many times before, but for once he set his supporting foot poorly, and lost his balance while striking. Branimir Mitov had to do nothing but watch as the shot sailed far above him, preserving his team's lead.
It was then two as it became
Gene Filippone's turn to muck up, as he allowed Hristiyan Grigorov to get inside him all too easily. There was no recovering for that as Georgi Mihaylov drilled a through pass to Grigorov's stronger left side in response, and
Wong Tian Han dived a second too late to stop the forward's mid-height effort from flying into the net.
Grilled's collapse showed no signs of abating, but even as most of his team were looking desperately at each other, Lee put himself forward. Embarking upon a fearless one-way run straight at Mitov, the old-fashioned midfielder exhibited a soft touch too when
Zhao Jing Wei released a pass his way, and he halted the Birds' decline with a collected finish.
This development completely turned the game on its head, as the previously-unshakeable commitment that the opponents had towards attacking went. While on the back foot, Kuzman Traykov was booked for a late clip on
Chow Ying Lee, which further reduced his impact. Woon made it 2-2 through the middle soon enough, after which Iron brigades got their game together and made a right slog of it until the break.
The Birds were slowly pulling away, however, as their short passing approach tired even the determined Iron brigades players, and American winger Hyman Lee wound up not having enough in the tank to match
Low Aik Jia in the 54th minute upon being challenged to a straight footrace. Lee was one of the few who kept abreast of Low on the breakaway, and deservedly converted the cross when it came in.
Now in the familiar position of having the lead, the Birds reverted to their usual free-attacking style, as Iron brigades were confronted with the problem of getting possession off them. Sensing that time was not on their side, Mladen Zarev stepped in a little too predictably against
Tian Yonghang, and was punished for it when the reigning Golden Boot winner dragged the ball around and lodged it into the bottom corner.
Ling Fuquan then made it five with the simplest of touches as Iron brigades overextended themselves on Hyman Lee's doomed advance down the right side, and had it not been for Mitov's alertness, it could have gotten even uglier for them as Chow struck out of nowhere from a free-kick. Zarev came closest to giving his team a straw of hope on a rare foray, but was off by inches.
With the opposition having more or less expended themselves, there wasn't much for Luis Alcántara to do other than to protect
Zhao Jing Wei from a possible suspension by taking him off for
Zhu Changchun, after which Grilled waited out the last ten minutes leisurely enough.
