Better Late Than Never
Islom Harvest
Grilled held a make-up game in Woodlands at The Dingling Shocking Lightning Rod to account for their no-show on the last day of the Singapore Community Cup, and it concluded with a 4-1 win over scheduled opponents Cabbages. The Geylangers were comprehensive in their pressing, but probably went overboard with it, leading to a markedly less-energetic second half.
Cabbages were certainly not to be underestimated, having beaten ~Pollen~ and drawn St. Xavier's FC in previous rounds, plenty of which could be attributed to the defensive sense of former Singapore U-20 midfielder Abhirup Eradi. Behind him, Mustafa Rilchingen and veteran captain Bakri Nooh made for a formidable centreback core, and one which few local clubs have had much joy against.
The Birds weren't holding much back despite resting both their starting wingers, and they definitely weren't skimping on putting out a strong forward threat.
Chan Ze Han, young yet clever - or some might say, cynical - worked to earn the corner in the eleventh minute. 19 year-old Belgian goalie Evert Ingelaere parried
Moey Xin Seng's powerful header, but
Vikram Mudaliar stuck out a heel to stick it in.
Cabbages were only incentivized to shut the Birds down more tightly at that, and Grilled indeed barely got a look, until Cabbages had equalized. That took until the 37th minute, with Eradi slinging it wide left for Chua Yi Chang. Chua's chest-level cross seemed to have been missed by the stooping Che Mirza Saidun, but Chris Wang arrived from the other flank to windmill it home with a raised leg.
The half would end with a bang, with Cabbages raring to build on their momentum, and
Jérémy Tarin would be booked for bringing Qasim Al-Abir down several minutes later, having no other choice. Bakri Noor's free-kick went nowhere, and it was Grilled who had the ball against a thinned backline seconds later.
Islom Davlatov wasn't letting such an opening slip, and drew Ingelaere out before lobbing it over him.
Again, Cabbages drew strength from being behind, and their gradual advance from the restart developed into an abrupt overloading of the Birds' defence. Eradi was odds-on to score as he brushed past
Hoàng Trung Quá in full stride, but
Krystian Rykowski had the basics down to a pat, and dropped his body well to cover the incoming grounder.
Mudaliar, still better in front of goal than as a playmaker, would be replaced by
Remco van der Ban for the second half, as Cabbages displayed signs of exhaustion. Grilled's third came a little unexpectedly as
José Luiz Velho's early cross should never have reached
Jérémy Tarin in the first place, but Tarin wasn't about to question reality, five yards out from goal.
The Birds could have had reason to rue their next misses, as
Chu Xin Lee fired straight at Ingelaere in the 71st minute, before Tarin casually dug a penalty wide shortly afterwards. Cabbages remained in no condition to mount a concerted offense, however, and
Islom Davlatov would finally make it 4-1, letting the ball run past both himself and Bakri Nooh before chasing it into the box.
There could have been a fifth as the Birds attacked with abandon, but Ingelaere was spot-on against
Moey Xin Seng's rising effort next.
Yee Jian Hui would then make his professional debut for Velho with ten minutes to go, but it wouldn't be a very eventful one, save for a small dispute between Glen Wei and the referee that ended with the Cabbages player being carded.
