Naïvety Hurts
Silei Supreme
Grilled's latest attempt at the Sapphire Challenger Cup came to an end against KingofNoobs United, who put on a great display of attacking football to outscore the Birds 5-3, at Singa Arena. They thrived in the muddy conditions after an unconvincing beginning to the match, and would prove the efficacy of a hard-running, no-frills approach to Grilled's detriment.
To be fair, KingofNoobs had worked some rotation with their starting lineup, which could certainly have been stronger - dangerman Mike Beersmans would be kept in reserve, with the young-and-learning duo of Phua Choon Kok and Tan Chun Wei tasked with supporting Marco Bastilani. They did have pace to burn, though, which was probably what Marçal Company had identified as the weak point in the Birds' backline.
National midfielder Ang Keng Jing was ruled out due to a head injury suffered against Tampines Phoenix F.C., but curiously, rather than deploy either Seglersheim or Rivadeneira, KingofNoobs would instead pull Mirko Silei back into midfield. It was an odd decision, which some suspected was aimed at remaining competitive in aerial challenges, but this would turn out to be a tactical masterstroke.
Grilled would draw first blood, though.
Cyril Künzler made good progress against an intimidated Du Jia Huat in the eighth minute, and managed to stake out the right side for long enough that the Birds had packed the opposition box. It was a matter of sheer numbers when Künzler finally put his cross in, and Grilled won out on that, with
Hoàng Trung Quá placing his header past the unsighted Vilhelm Mejer.
KingofNoobs were in a bad place for some time, and after they escaped going further behind as
Moey Xin Seng nodded just a little too weakly towards goal, Bastilani would be booked for rushing
Yuta Nakakita from behind, which saw the Grilled player come close to retaliating. They were never wanting for fight, though, and although Phua Choon Kok's thrust was foiled by a slip, he won much appreciation for his valiant efforts to stay upright.
Bastilani would put his team level in the 22nd minute, from the barest of half-chances. A fine approach by Jari Lösönen had been headed off competently by the Grilled midfield, and there appeared to be nothing going on, when Lösönen had no option but to hand off to a well-guarded Bastilani, almost thirty yards out. His first-touch curler was close to perfect, however, and
Valentin Batâr simply could not reach it in time.
This had barely sunk in when KingofNoobs' aggressive pressing won them a corner, which Mirko Silei duly powered in. Before
that really registered either, KingofNoobs were 3-1 up; Lyuben Damyanov saw what
Florus Romijn was trying to do, and reversed his run straight back down the wing. In came Alessandro Guevara on
Gene Filippone's blind side, and before his fellow players could sound the alarm, Guevara had glanced it down and in.
Given that none of those goals had admitted much response, the young Birds team's panic was only to be expected, and it took a lot of calming from the seniors to have them recollect themselves.
Moey Xin Seng, despite holding the captaincy, probably tried far too much on his own, and his giveaway on defence would lead to
Islom Davlatov making a rash late challenge, in the 37th minute.
Bastilani, who had been winding up for the header, would have to go off with a deep cut over his eye, but this was little cause for celebration for the Birds, as Beersmans was waiting patiently to come on.
Grilled definitely didn't need that, but against all expectations, the Belgian would be the one to let them back in. Romijn was just dying to make amends, but would end up in a heap with Guevara after taking off from the restart. Replays suggested that Guevara had won it fairly, but the referee awarded the free-kick to Grilled, after Beersmans got a little too pushy. Thinking fast,
Mohammad Ramli Saliman floated it across to
Cyril Künzler, and
Neeraj Muthyala nicked it over Mejer on a sweeping advance down the right.
Half-time would see the situation reset to KingofNoobs' imperiousness midway through the first half, however, as the young Grilled attack found itself breaking down all too easily.
Ahmed Pećanić, making his Birds debut, was by some distance the worst culprit, but then again, it was hard to blame the teenaged Bosnian for any lack of heart.
The rain was coming down in buckets now, and the opponents' almost-guileless mode of attack would prove well suited to the conditions. A slog down the left saw Silei emerge free and clear by a process of attrition, and while
Valentin Batâr got himself down as soon as the shot came in, the slippery ball wouldn't stay in his grasp. A short consultation followed, but the match officials would conclude that the ball had barely crossed the line, making it 4-2.
On the contrary, Grilled's forwards stubbornly stuck to Bacelar's short-passing philosophy despite the head coach's imprecations from the sidelines, with
Islom Davlatov's would-be defence-splitting passes foiled by the turf more than once. Pećanić, whose self-assurance admirably did not waver, came up with two notable attempts in the 66th and 72nd minutes, but Vilhelm Mejer was there both times.
If the Birds were to mount a response, it would have to come from somewhere further back, and one man was indeed quietly working at it. Having just tempted opposite number Ahmed Mohannadi into a bad foul,
Cyril Künzler found Mohannadi standing off him ever so slightly. This was all the space he needed as
Florus Romijn blazed down the left and faked a cross before cutting sharply back, and Künzler left Mejer no chance with his delightfully-angled tap to the back corner.
Their spirits fell almost as soon as they had been raised, sadly. It was not even a matter of overexuberance, either, as
Moey Xin Seng embraced caution in hitting a sensible backwards pass... only to watch in horror, as it got stuck before reaching a friendly face. Lösönen would be first to get there, and a clever swiping out to the right saw Lyuben Damyanov arrive just on time to clip their fifth goal.
Grilled weren't about to concede just about yet, and they appeared to have secured an instant reducer, when
Islom Davlatov flung himself into a dazzling bicycle kick on their next push. Mejer could only gape as the ball flashed by him, but it would ultimately come down off the underside of the crossbar. Moey would claim it for his strike partner as Fung Chuan Jian anxiously hacked it aside, but the linesman would only shake his head.
Despite a couple more late approaches, the Birds would not seriously threaten KingofNoobs after that close shave, and would have to accept their elimination from domestic cup competition in due course.
