War Is Sore
Kalki, Leong Crocked
The friendly circuit would prove no respite for the Birds, but then again, it was not as if Green Island Warriors were up there with the best choices, had they wanted one. The pride of Kilkenny were vying for promotion to the Irish Premier, leading Dooradoyle Bluefingers heavily on goal difference going into the final round; a home win against third-placed Irish coffee will guarantee them a playoff.
So, all in all, a bad place for a team down on their luck to try and regain some self-belief. And if this was what the Birds had in mind, they would come to be dissuaded on Warriors' very first advance. Trevor Leech, being tried out on the right, hit a first-time ball in early, and it took some contortion by
Krystian Rykowski, to keep the young-and-eager Paul McLarnon from scoring.
Grilled's second-stringers were getting roundly outplayed, and it was quite a miracle that they held out as long as they did.
Kalki Parvathaneni wouldn't be around for most of it, though, after he pulled up hobbling after some typically energetic scrambling.
Ang Leong Kum was a calming influence, but not a big one, and the Birds had Rykowski to thank for screening McLarnon out yet again, in the 14th minute.
It would be the end of
Leong Wan Kang's day - and season - a short while after that, after he took a boot to the knee, from Victor McNamara; the former Seamróige lad contested his booking vigorously but to no avail, but he quickly put it behind him, slinging a pass across the box for Emilio Naldi to start the count.
Krystian Rykowski's previous feats would fade as he exhibited some rather poor decision-making in electing to rush out on that one, and he did his reputation no favours for the following goal either. Nigerian international playmaker Richard Fona's effort was uncharacteristically tame, but Rykowski managed to fluff the routine catch, and German forward Manfred Mansaray got it on on the follow-up.
Mansaray would put away a third in the 54th minute, but there at least had been a positive half-hour in between for the Birds;
Moey Xin Seng had managed to trade mostly evenly with the big boys in midfield, and
Mohd Jafni Abdul Majid exhibited signs of promise after replacing
Hilal Bakhtiar at half-time. Mansaray's strike was certainly not his fault this time, as the lead-up was simply too quality to be stopped.
Truly, it was difficult to be too critical of the Grilled players, given their persistent hustle in the face of long odds. Warriors wouldn't have clear looks for long stretches, and were reduced to speculative potshots, such as Trevor Leech's eyebrow-raising go from forty yards in the 62nd that trundled well wide. McLarnon's patience was wearing thin, and he would go into the book alongside McNamara, after exchanging some choice words with the referee.
Warriors would end off with a pair, as they had started. Fona, excellent throughout, powered a commanding header narrowly over in the 75th minute, but Rykowski responded by making a hash of the short goal-kick. Steijn van der Voort beat
Rashid bin Ahmad to it as the latter got sold down the river, and clipped his finish just between Rykowski and his near post.
Dennis Brandstetter completed the hosts' scoring the next minute from a novelty free-kick combination that came off. The Birds would then come close to a consolation, but despite being largely underworked, Warriors skipper Scott McDermott remained watchful enough to pull off a magnificent save from
Ang Leong Kum's breaking drive.
