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| FIXTURE HISTORY |
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| Season 50 | L | 0 - 3 | Tournament (Playoffs) |
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Line Cut
Bellamoli in Pomp
In the Birds' first official match against established Pulau Ubin club Tele Fone FC, they romped to a eight-nil final score against the hosts' reserves. Anfie1d's capacity of 84000 was barely touched for this midweek friendly, with some 2500 out for the practice kickabout, and they would have goals if not glory on the day.
Tele Fone FC have been in a bit of a lull after twice making it to II.2 in their long history, but nevertheless are on course to promote back to Division Three at season's end, as they hold a commanding five-point lead over second-placed Brighton Football Club in IV.33. That said, while they do have some top-end talent like striker Phang Tse Yun, seven of their squad are U-20 players in a nod to youth development, including all three strikers in their 3-4-3 lineup.
They wouldn't get much shooting practice, however, as their midfield led by backup goalkeeper Lin Minyao wouldn't get much of a sniff at the ball. It was instead the oft-overlooked Italian attacker
Pompeo Bellamoli who thrived in the open environment, dazzling to stick
Rinor Isufi's probing cross past Amir Ghamrawy in the 21st minute, before a superb low drive two minutes later.
Sng De Wei was chafing at the bit by now, but his physical style only had
Hilal Bakhtiar hobbling off for a cut hamstring, which had
Qassem Madaini on earlier than expected.
Leong Wan Kang poached the third from the resulting free-kick, and then
Moey Xin Seng got his first pro goal - if unofficial - off Isufi's corner. The execution was tellingly applauded by
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim, who was seated in the stands.
Leong Wan Kang then had a string of decent chances, but failed to take most of them, with a particularly disappointing miss in the 33rd minute when facing Ghamrawy one-on-one. It took him until the 67th minute to finally unlock the reorganized Tele Fone FC backline again, and it took
Yuki Irie's prolonged efforts down the left to lay down the groundwork then.
That was also however it for
Pompeo Bellamoli's hopes for a hat-trick, as he was waved aside for
Colby Awyong to enter. For all of Bellamoli's dismay, the stoppage provided the perfect distraction for
Neeraj Muthyala, who snuck in on Toh Ping Chee and grabbed a sixth.
Rinor Isufi then converted a stonewall penalty, and followed that with a neat volley right after Alex Le had been laid out by a vicious
Remco van der Ban challenge. Muthyala had the dubious distinction of receiving the last yellow card of the match, after a cringing attempt at creating another penalty from the slightest of contacts.
