lcfc 2 - 3 Grilled Birds
Emerald Phoenix
Rising From The Dead
Two goals down by the 13th minute and floundering away from home, lcfc could be forgiven for thinking they had Grilled down and out in their Foxhole. That assurance was diminished, then changed to disbelief and finally disaster as the Birds clawed themselves back through Sid, Martinsson and Wai-Kin to take all six points from lcfc this season.
Despite Rottman's rapid recovery, a dull ache while walking down the tunnel convinced club doctors to take no chances and order him out. A still-bruised Siu-Yue had to play, but at least
Shen Kek-Tjiang was back in top condition and ready to lead the midfield.
lcfc had beaten FC RaZer Infernus 4-2 in their midweek friendly, and their prowess in attack carried over to the opening minutes of the match. It was a game of rapid movement down the flanks with all four wingers known for their pace, and in the 11th minute Juan Blanco's extra skills won out against both Paullin and Falkbo. He played his first touch between them and raced to beat Sulaiman, getting his foot in a second early.
The applause had barely died down when lcfc doubled their lead. Neo Nie How outran his national team junior
Quah Han Kok in a blazing display of raw speed on the left. Quah could not stop Neo cutting in on his weak side, and experienced Swedish midfielder Bruno Lagerquist similarly turned Bona to nip home the second at Sulaiman's near post.
Grilled were fighting for their lives as both Paullin and Han Kok were outmaneuvered on the wings, but lcfc inexplicably declined to press the advantage, probably feeling that a two-nil win to avenge a defeat by that score at The Cooking Pot was fitting enough.
This allowed Grilled to go forward a bit more, and after the quick Kau Yu-Thong was stretchered off due to a twisted ankle after catching his boot in the turf, Han Kok had a far easier time against the considerably slower Patrick Amdisen. This was reflected by the sudden increase in crosses from that flank, and the move by lcfc's defenders to illegally block Martinsson from going up for a header in the six-yard box.
Sid never looked like he was going to miss the penalty, and indeed bounced it in off the post as Timmy Jastrup stood his ground. Goalscorer Juan Blanco received the first yellow card of the game as he furiously criticized a linesman's decision not to award a throw-in to his team, but his team still held the lead come half-time.
lcfc returned to the style of their first fifteen minutes after the interval, and in desperation Falkbo dragged Neo down and only escaped a sending-off as he had Sid covering next to him. There was an uneasy moment as
Terkel Borup went down like a sack of potatoes after a hard tackle, but thankfully the substitute didn't require one himself.
Grilled then equalised against the run of play in the 71st minute. Siu-Yue took the ball up as the lcfc players allowed him to run with it, and he played Borup behind the last man. Borup just managed to keep the ball from rolling out of play, but his awkward chip was sufficient for Martinsson to rise and glance it into the net with his forehead.
As the lcfc fans watched silently,
Lorenz Paullin discovered that Blanco had more acceleration than pace and took him on a ride down the left sidelines. Blanco couldn't keep up, and Paullin's square pass was missed by many before Wai-Kin met it at the back post to walk it in. The comeback was complete.
