rogoe 0 - 6 Grilled Birds
Rogoe Out
Trainees Sparkle
Ang Mo Kio newcomers rogoe put up a praiseworthy struggle in the second round of the Singapore Cup, that included not a bit of spirited rough-housing, but the Division Four club would inevitably be dumped by a dominant Birds XI. Five yellow cards and a sending-off highlighted the hosts' gargantuan efforts to stay within touch, but deft finishing by the up-and-coming tag-team of
Moey Xin Seng and
Neeraj Muthyala cut them adrift.
This would be the pair's actual competitive debuts as starters, the walkover against Charis FC notwithstanding, and it was evident from the first touch that they were out to stamp their mark. rogoe, under local taskmaster Foo Seng Kang, were definitely tough customers though, with striker Koh Chin Chao especially having just given a good account of himself in Sunday's narrow loss to Sinha.
Strangely, record S$1.8 million Mongolian winger Kuzhuk Tilik remained shut out of the squad, even if rogoe coped quite nicely at first against Grilled without him; the tenor of the match was set when Cheng Seng Kum snuck a bump on Moey on their first encounter, which was missed by the match officials, and rogoe evinced no intention of letting up on the contact as they attempted to gain the upper hand by disruption.
It was hard-going if fine experience for the midfield trainees, who didn't seem to understand what was happening for quite some time.
Hariharan Prabhu was more equipped to deal with the problem, and wound up claiming control. Still, it would take all of 29 minutes before Prabhu managed to find a lull in rogoe's unceasing pressure, and lined up a pass with the outside of his boot, that
Rinor Isufi lashed home swooping in from the right.
rogoe had been dealing nicely with Grilled before that, but with their hopes for extra time, or perhaps a smash-and-grab, dashed, they turned up the aggressiveness several notches. Tackles went from snide to severe, with Teoh Tong Chi and Chee Choon getting booked within a minute of each other, as the wingers tried to harass themselves into possession.
Actually, it nearly paid off, and rogoe could plausibly have gone ahead. First, a delightful no-look lob from Cheng Seng Kum could easily have become a one-on-one had Chee been watching, but the opportunity was lost as he allowed it to bounce out of reach. A while later, striker Ng Jing Kwang drew clear of
Clément Meyer for once, only to rush his shot.
That was basically it for the hosts, as they would not get another sniff at the Birds' goal.
Moey Xin Seng's moment then came, as he finally explained why Grilled had been placing their future on him, embarking upon a solo dribble that mixed quickness and tenacity - it would have been so easy to go down after being tripped from the back by Aaron Luong, but Moey instead recovered to nick it to
Tian Yonghang, before slipping into position for the return and converting from there.
It was a brilliant maiden goal for a special player, but rogoe were not interested in building his portfolio; the challenges continued coming in thick and fast, and referee Andrzej Kocikowski had barely carded Luong retroactively, when Ng Jing Kwang nearly put Prabhu out with an elbow to the head. Ng somehow escaped with a yellow for that, but then made it easy for Kocikowski to rectify the mistake, when he then laid into
Zhao Jing Wei immediately upon the restart.
Incredibly, the home fans managed to find offense with the sending-off, which Grilled for their part took full advantage of.
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim took a quick free-kick while rogoe skipper Teoh remained arguing the decision, and
Neeraj Muthyala made it three with a downwards header off the ground. This was all the signal assistant coach Luis Alcántara needed to make a sub and cool matters down. The referee - on the verge of being mobbed - seemed to appreciate it, as he used
Rashid bin Ahmad's entrance as an excuse to blow for half-time.
rogoe to their credit didn't crumble despite the less-than-promising turn of events, and came out swinging as they did before. The Birds were prepared this time, however, and further were happy enough to slow the game down whenever they could. The home team tried chasing the ball down in response, but this was much easier said than done.
This was setting up nicely for an explosive finish by the relatively fresh Grilled team, and
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim's fine start to the new season continued, as he executed a technically-flawless volley with 79 minutes gone. Micah Jiang had closed him down well enough for that one, but Mohd Safri made do with the little space remaining, and slung it inches beyond Ahmad Hammam's reach.
Also, it was the Birds' turn to crank up the nasty, just a little, and Muthyala probably didn't have to crash into Toh Meng Ah in the 86th. He did anyway, and received Grilled's first and only booking of the game. They didn't even suffer overly for it, as rogoe overextended themselves chasing a consolation, and
Yuki Irie brought it back up the left before setting
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim up for this third brace in as many games.
Irie himself would miss a sitter after
Tian Yonghang lifted one at him in a frentic bout of time added on, but
Leong Wan Kang would find a sixth with his wild attempt that came off Mohd Safri's back, just a couple of minutes after coming on. The veteran made as to claim it, before congratulating his younger colleague.
