Quip Me Up
Meeting A Need
It wasn't fair, but it was also exactly what Grilled were asking for, as they equalled their league winning margin record against the beleaguered Quipersss. The outcome had always been a foregone conclusion, against a rag-tag bunch of neighbourhood recruits, but the Birds were not - nor could afford to be - in a charitable mood.
Gene Filippone was rested, and his position filled by
Yuta Nakakita, as Grilled set themselves out for goals, goals, goals. This allowed the side to accomodate both
Islom Davlatov and
Chu Xin Lee in a rotating attack, and it took just nine minutes for the former to break Quipersss' stubborn resistance, credit to
Florus Romijn's burst down the left.
And it was the Belgian winger who was the true star of the first half, as he challenged the hosts' inadequacies in the most direct manner possible. Quipersss skipper Goo Qiang Tong tried his best to keep up, but the vast gap in physical attributes was impossible to paper over indefinitely. Already short-handed given Grilled's other attackers, there was no stopping Romijn as he simply ran through to score, in the 28th and 31st minutes.
Cyril Künzler wasn't about to be left out, and would soon begin to relive his hat-trick scoring deeds, from when the twain last met. Like Goo, Mukundh Kannan was left with no recourse when Künzler took him on for pure pace in the 32nd, and Künzler would be two-thirds of the way to repeating his feat several minutes later, when he potted a dinger past Jimmie Tse.
Kalki Parvathaneni would finish off the first half's scoring next, against a badly-flagging Quipersss backline.
In truth, it was almost criminal how underqualified this Quipersss side was, with Tse for instance having admitted readily enough to only just picking up the goalkeeping craft. 26 year-old Pradyumna Shah, a final-year university student, was their most influential player by a ways, as he tried to keep their chins up alongside organizing their defence.
Quipersss actually made out pretty well after getting a needed rest, and they actually did a passable impression of a professional team, early in the second half. Yaseen Najib sent some hearts fluttering with earnest, but ultimately inadequate, sprints against
Hoàng Trung Quá, as the hosts went the hopeful long ball route in search of a consolation.
Künzler would complete his hat-trick 59 minutes in with a spookily-accurate chip, but Quipersss were admirably not daunted by their latest setback. They would start to construct some nice patterns, and some unexpected footwork by Shah even drew Davlatov into an ill-considered tackle, which will see him suspended against Pearl Divers.
The exertions were taking a heavy toll on the part-timers, however, and Goo would have to be treated for heatstroke with seventy minutes gone. The other players were hardly disagreeable with an enforced water break, and there was quite a bit of friendly banter going on between the sides, as they waited for Goo to recover himself.
Bolivian midfielder
Christian Mier would make his professional debut for
Hoàng Trung Quá with ten minutes left, and duly enjoyed a perfect start to his career. Barely thirty seconds after coming on, and with his very first touch, he brought an excellent through pass from
Mohammad Ramli Saliman under control, before stroking it past Tse with his other foot.
Mier could hardly hide his jubilation, but then went on to collect his first yellow card shortly afterwards, due to a frankly very bad challenge on Quipersss forward Koh Jie How. The final five minutes then saw goals from Grilled's new guard of
Moey Xin Seng,
Kalki Parvathaneni and
Chu Xin Lee, though it was hardly a match by then.
