Lotto Swept
Moey, Won Combine
It was a seasonally torrid day in Egypt, but still not quite as hot as
Clark Won and
Moey Xin Seng, who were a head above their peers as they ran the show against Fagiolotto Team. Their opponents, who had risen swiftly to Division Two after being incorporated by associates of Italy's New Dream 3, actually had the better individuals - but were somehow bereft of a certain cohesion.
Purely man for man, for example, there were none more imposing than former Andorran youth international Javier Decamps, who skippered Fagiolotto against the Birds; well, perhaps other than his colleague Tom Frick, who was virtually uncontestable in the air.
Where the hosts lost out was in their undue haste to advance the ball, which was fairly strange given that Grilled's midfield was comparatively lightweight.
Clark Won definitely wasn't complaining as he gave Hassan Abou Ghali something to think about with an early trial chip, while
Leong Wan Kang might have gone one better, had he not tried to run right through Mourad El Ahmar and get booked instead.
Fagiolotto were probably affected by their adoption of a 2-5-3 for the game, as their forwards got in each others' way more than once. Grilled piled on but not overly effectively, and
Kalki Parvathaneni followed Leong into the referee's book, for his non-stop hassling of Frick.
They were slowly gaining in confidence, though, and it all came to a head after Won's 39th minute free-kick forced a world-class save out of Ghali. The remaining minutes of the first half were marked by an explosion in activity from the Grilled camp, and Won got through four minutes later to sink a dipping header in off the post.
Moey Xin Seng would up it to two, right before the whistle was blown for half-time. Bypassing a Fagiolotto midfield that had all but switched off, only Mahmoud El Gebaly recognized the threat that Moey's straight-ahead run posed, but he was in no position to stop the Grilled youngster before he floated it over Ghali.
Canadian head coach Carl Brosseau was seen giving his players a talking-to as they trudged off, probably on their loss of concentration, and they came back out markedly more alert. The lack of coordination remained painfully apparent, however, despite Decamps's best efforts.
While Fagiolotto were alright whenever he or Fricks held the ball, it was a completely different story once they tried to arrange attacking passes, not helped by the eagerness of the Birds' trainees to prove their worth.
Chu Xin Lee put out a leg to intercept Abd El Rahman Talaat's square ball in the 58th, and nearly caught Ghali napping with an immediate fading strike.
Talaat's day only got worse as he was left way out of position on Fagiolotto's next move, and Grilled wasted no time in surging through the middle.
Rinor Isufi occupied the attention of the remaining defenders, and
Remco van der Ban - always willing to have a go - smashed a piledriver that Ghali could only deflect partially.
The Birds were now three up and not slowing down, though Ibrahim Kheir had perhaps their best chance breaking forward in the 69th minute, only to be stopped brutally but legally by
Rashid bin Ahmad.
Chu Xin Lee and
Remco van der Ban had fair efforts at extending the lead further from close up, but were denied by excellent last-gasp defending.
This was all taking its toll on Decamps, who at last showed signs of slowing as the game reached its final stages. That said, it wouldn't matter much, and neither did
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim and
Colby Awyong's brief cameos.
