Three Rounds On Each
Rewat Says Me
Prospective Thai III.6 winners BeerMonkeys hosted Grilled to a noteworthy 3-3 draw in Bangkok today, which saw regular striker Rewat Kwanmee add to his legion of adoring fans with a standout shift with the reserves. The Birds' own Number Nine
Rinor Isufi likewise got a brace, but had to concede to Kwanmee's sheer all-around charisma on the day.
Having never finished lower than third in their five seasons thus far, BeerMonkeys have even started an affiliate in Syria, which has itself won three Division Four titles. A 3-1 win over LaOrngNahm FC, headlined by 21 year-old sensation Chit Kritkaew, has put them in the driving seat in the league, while leaving Kwanmee with a lot to prove after he had retired injured against BlackHAWK after a stray tackle from Maitri Jumnian.
With competition to don the yellow and orange stripes on the weekend only stiffening, Kwanmee recognized that he needed to work his way back into contention as soon as possible, and Romanian head coach Achim Tătaru could not help but be impressed at his dedication. A dummy free-kick by debutant Boonkoed Manakul-isara allowed Kwanmee to fire hard into the wall after 18 minutes, which left Tawatchai Sawangjit with a direct follow-up to beat
Krystian Rykowski.
Kwanmee took it a down a notch however after he nearly got on the wrong end of
Rashid bin Ahmad's challenge soon afterwards, which had the Birds begin to make inroads. They worked the flanks assiduously, and a rapid movement from left to right had
Colby Awyong free behind Chat Thaitayan.
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim narrowly missed the cross rushing towards it, but Isufi was waiting behind him to nod it out of reach of Udom Jarusathian.
Three minutes later, Kwanmee linked up with the bubbly Manakul-isara once again, throwing himself into the teenager's excellent corner kick to put the home team back ahead.
Rinor Isufi was on song too, though, and executed a couple of delightfully-timed one-twos with Mohd Safri to work himself into a good scoring position down the right, from which he deposited into the open far end of goal.
The fans were justifiably getting worked up, and Isufi made his bid for a hat-trick with a superbly disguised take from a free-kick. He brought it up and over BeerMonkeys' defensive wall with incredible spin, and had Jarusathian not waited to catch the curve at the end, it would certainly have ended up bulging the net.
Half-time saw
Zhao Jing Wei and
Low Aik Jia enter, which immediately gave Grilled a shot in the arm on the left wing. Nakorn Wongamat latched himself onto Low to stem his runs in short order, and did such a good job that
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim would get barely a look in, before he was himself replaced by
Pompeo Bellamoli on the hour mark.
The sad fact however was that Mohd Safri certainly had been looking past his best, with Wit Junsalee seldom having much trouble keeping up with him, and Bellamoli was actually an upgrade in most respects. At the very least, the Italian's non-stop motion was a pain to register, and Giancarlo Baiani would eventually have to bring his countryman down in the 77th minute, which also brought Gino Baarfuss' first booking of the match.
A clever set-up that had Isufi give up another pop to play
Leong Wan Kang in nearly paid off, but for the vision of Tawatchai Sawangjit, who spotted it barely in time to head the finish off. Then, Low nearly decided the friendly on his own with an unstoppable sprint onto
Moey Xin Seng's speculative through ball, only to be beaten at the buzzer by a fearless Jarusathian.
BeerMonkeys seemed to have preserved the tie, when
Colby Awyong decided to give it his best shot - with injury time fast approaching, the utility man found few options dallying around the outskirts of the penalty area, before seeing a gap open with Jarusathian lured to Bellamoli's run to the near post. Awyong immediately tried for the far top corner, and his right foot did not fail him with what looked like a spectacular gamewinner.
Not if Kwanmee could do anything about it, however. Perhaps influenced by the crowd, the fourth official signalled five minutes of time added on, and Kwanmee needed only three of those to get BeerMonkeys level. Awyong proved far less impressive on defence than attack, and after falling to a deceptively simple feint, the Thai forward struck sweetly to put it beyond
Krystian Rykowski's despairing dive.
Baiani would be sent off straight after the restart for launching himself into Leong, but with so little time left, there was no way that Grilled could turn it to their advantage.
