Rough Welcome
Batâr Bashed
The Birds sank to a disheartening 1-5 away defeat at the Free Seating stadium, where hosts Claseek overcame a slow start to again thump Grilled hard. It wasn't even an issue of seizing control for Grilled, who dictated the pace in the first half-hour; however, the inability to polish off their chances, and Claseek's penchant for the same, turned the match into a veritable cauldron for new starting custodian
Valentin Batâr.
The sudden sale of Wong Tian Han had left Batâr as his undisputed replacement between the sticks, and he would have little to do in the opening stages, as Grilled sought to assert themselves. With the memory of that 0-4 defeat still stinging, they burst out of the gates eager to prove themselves, with their quick and precise passing slicing through Claseek's lines.
That frenetic period saw
Gennady Dvorak get on the end of a clever rolled ball from
Mohammad Ramli Saliman as early as the fifth minute, but Spanish goalie Eñaut Iturrioz responded with a magnificent body block on the strike. Iturrioz was at it again two minutes later, this time putting his thigh in the way of
Low Aik Jia's cutter, as the home fans breathed another sigh of relief.
Grilled's relentless advances would catch Iturrioz out eventually, and he had barely had a breather when Low again ranged up the left. Filipino rightback Lito Mejares was no slowpoke himself, but could do nothing once Low got the drop on him. With nobody now between him and the goal, Low would draw Iturrioz aside with practised poise, before dealing it to
Tian Yonghang at the last moment, for a simple tap-in.
It was looking great for the Birds at this point, with Tian rolling back the years with his cheeky tricks, but Claseek would wise up and reinforce their defence. Grilled found it far harder to impress inside a packed final third, as the hosts were only too willing to yield space outside the penalty area, given the lack of a legitimate long-shot threat on the Birds' end.
Part of Claseek's initial reticence could have been put down to the absence of suspended Indonesian playmaker Mara Roekanda, but this was something they would slowly work their way out of. Having stabilized the game, they would begin to venture, and Mukund Trivedi would equalize from Hong Kong winger Tung Guicheng's delightful cross in the 34th, looping it over Batâr with great technique.
Another header would put Claseek firmly in the lead, several minutes after the second half began. Ian Kleine had been biding his time, but there was no stopping the tall Swiss, when he burst into action following Feliciano Rodrigues's drilled corner.
Yuta Nakakita got the slightest of touches as it flew by, but hardly enough to prevent Kleine from thumping it home at the far post.
If Batâr could hardly be blamed for those two goals, it would be a rather different equation with Claseek's third in the 67th minute.
Gene Filippone had done well in getting the ball off a raiding Tung, but wasn't watching his back, and was himself pickpocketed by Ang Chu Feng. Still, it was a relatively harmless situation, or would have been had Batâr not severely overracted with a mad dash out. This left him open for a quick lob by Ang, and had the visiting support scratching their heads in unison.
Grilled were down but not out yet, and
Gennady Dvorak so very nearly got them back into the fight, with an uncharacteristic pop from outside the penalty area, five minutes on. Siba Pati wasn't expecting that, and neither was Iturrioz, but the attempt would ultimately clatter down off the bar.
Tian Yonghang was watching for the possibility, but Pati got to the loose ball before him, and knocked it away from danger.
Rinor Isufi came on for
Mohammad Ramli Saliman with fifteen minutes remaining, but if Grilled fans were expecting a repeat of his supersub feats from last sunday, they would be sorely let down. Isufi barely managed a sniff as Claseek directed play according to their will, and a speculative grounder by Feliciano Rodrigues bounced over Batâr, with five minutes of regular time remaining.
The new Grilled goalkeeper's baptism of fire would be complete in time added on, after
Kalki Parvathaneni's arrival, and Tian's inadvertent knocking out cold of Iturrioz in a bid to snag another consolation. He was left sadly underdefended by his colleagues on the final counter, and could do little when Lester Toh came in out of the right side.
