Roving To A Stop
Becksten Calls Shots
Grilled slogged to a three-all draw against Montreal-based Rangerovver in their SYRIAN CUP opener, with Rangerovver's Swedish maestro Viktor Becksten giving his side the lead twice.
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim would not be overshadowed, and came close to sealing the win with two quickfire second-half raids.
Rangerovver, who sit atop Canada's official ladder system, had reverted to four in defence for the occasion, after their 3-5-2 had been undone by the Hornets yesterday. South Korean national team regular Ji-Hyun Kim captained the team at leftback, with the black-clad players cutting an imposing figure as they lined up for kickoff.
The Birds opted to go with just one attacking wing, with
Lee Lee Hao placed to tuck in on the other flank.
Chow Ying Lee, suspended for the next league game, was nevertheless available in this tournament, and he looked eager to lead the line. He found his match in Kim, though, who neutralised his pace intelligently by excellent positioning.
By then, Viktor Becksten had already put Rangerovver ahead, with Kim and Belgian winger Claude Tenda cooperating to superb effect against
Wong Ping Shun. Grilled came up empty against their deft one-twos, and Becksten would profit with his almost unhindered strike that bent just outside
Wong Tian Han's reach.
It looked bad for the Birds, who have yet to rediscover the free-flowing attack that they availed of in the cup final. Rangerovvers were more than content with fending the occasional ineffectual probes off, and after
Zhao Jing Wei had been pressed into taking Zlatko Bačković down for the team, Grilled were fortunate not to go further behind, as Becksten powered a second effort onto the bar.
Grilled's blessings were not done with yet, and after the referee awarded Mohd Safri a free-kick for a slightly dubious fall just outside Rangerovver's penalty area,
Wong Ping Shun rode this luck further as he approached the ball wrongly, and wound up blasting it straight at the wall... and right through it, which Italian goalie Mattia Orlandini was certainly not expecting.
This marked a turning point of sorts, as the Birds regained some self-belief in their ability to score, unwarranted as it might have been.
Tian Yonghang's creativity too returned after a rather stiff first half-hour, and his neat little half-step caused Alex Cassar to be booked for misjudging it.
Rangerovver recovered during the break, and after a very lively start to the second half, Becksten made it 2-1 for his side with a fine chip over Wong, having sidled between Grilled's centrebacks. There followed a minor uproar from their fans when Geoffrey Sheets seemed to have been clipped by
Ling Fuquan, only for the referee to motion for him to get up, and then gave him a yellow card for his not-unfounded protests.
The Canadians seemed to be cruising to a win, as the Birds laboured to get within range at all. As had happened so often before, though,
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim took Grilled's wilting resolve by the scruff, and after a dazzling dribble alone the outside of Rangerovver's box in the 71st minute, snapped a grounder back in at the far post.
Then, before Rangerovver had digested what had happened, Mohd Safri was at it again. Encouraged by his longtime partner,
Chow Ying Lee set off on an electrifying run right at the heart of the opposition defence from kickoff, with this very direct approach offset by Mohd Safri's almost unnaturally-calm lob. Orlandini backpedalled furiously, but succeeded only it punching it into the roof of his own net.
Having fallen behind for the first time, Rangerovver were anxious to find a response, but Becksten would only manage to become their third player to be booked, in trying to dispossess
Ling Fuquan forcibly. With ten minutes to go,
Djan Bacelar decided on a double substitution to keep them on the back foot, with
Low Aik Jia and
Rinor Isufi coming on for
Lee Lee Hao and
Chow Ying Lee.
This stop in play proved to be Rangerovver's lifeline, though. Tibor Kasznár, who had been defensive for most of the match, suddenly made a run for it, and with Low still finding his bearings, he managed to squeeze a cross into Grilled's box. Wong came out for it but was blocked off by his own man, and Maltese midfielder Alex Cassar tied it up, this time permanently.
