Aberrafuqueño Sendoff
Yee Finds Groove
Some days after bidding adios to BCFC, Grilled would face another club on the verge of dissolution, with Guam fourth division side Internacional Aberrafuqueño having announced their resignation. This will be another in a long line of short-lived ventures by Spanish club Aberrafucos, who have dallied with offshoots in Costa Rica and Mexico before this.
The Aberrafuqueño players in their distinctive aquamarine colours weren't about to mope about, what with the necessity of finding new employment, but the Birds had brought too much firepower for them to survive.
Bernie Egan's discontent at having to fill in defensively was apparently heeded, as he started in the front line alongside
Moey Xin Seng and
Yee Jian Hui;
Bilal Mohammad Harun and
Gilbert Webb provided the anchor in midfield.
Prokop Mottl rode on his weekend high as he shone against a noticeably callow Fredrick Quinata on the left, and he would open the scoring in the eleventh minute. The opportunity had its share of good fortune, with a random bounce taking the ball away from the better-placed Pi-Ja Son, but there was little that was lucky about Mottl's explosive left-footed take.
Grilled's next goal arrived in the 25th minute, after
Moey Xin Seng's probing volley had been warded off by makeshift goalkeeper Hal Piper for a corner. Piper had debuted last week as a forward, and it was obvious that he had precious little experience in his new position, from how he stood frozen as the high delivery came in. His defence bailed him out then, but
Bilal Mohammad Harun shrugged and hammered it right back in.
Bernie Egan helped his own case with a tremendous solo dribble four minutes later, and slightly-selfishly held on to finish it himself. It wasn't as if the opponents were posing much danger, then again, although winger Ted Galvez did make
José Luiz Velho look dodgy, more than once. The commentators noted that Galvez will surely be sought after by other Guam clubs at the right price, given his skills.
This wouldn't help much on this day, and after quiet middle third, the game returned to life in the 63rd minute.
Yee Jian Hui's decision-making had not been optimal, and his trying to lob Piper was probably unnecessary, when a more natural approach should have done the trick. Piper indeed managed to grab the ball... but only after it had crossed the line. The crowd managed to be amused.
It was then Galvez time. The winger had been too good to come out of this empty-handed, and there was a sense of justice being served, when he scored in the 72nd minute. Having shaken Velho off once again, Galvez next took on
Mohd Jafni Abdul Majid, and had the Grilled defender sweeping at thin air with his horizontal movement.
Krystian Rykowski didn't have time to reposition himself before Galvez had bent it to his far corner.
Jérémy Tarin would leave for
Yuki Irie to stretch his legs in the 80th minute, and his arrival would be marked by a
Gilbert Webb chip. There was adventure to spare as the clock ran down, with
Moey Xin Seng hilariously trying to lob Piper - and coming uncomfortably close - from near the half-way line. Aberrafuqueño could entertain too, as Jonathan Ibanez did when he pinged a free-kick through a leaky wall.
Another sub, another goal as Mohd Jafni was replaced by
Kohei Okuya, while Mottl waited to restart with a throw-in.
Dante Tran executed a bicycle kick on that, which would not have gotten past a better keeper, not that the spectators seemed too concerned. There would be some worries in injury time as
Moey Xin Seng fell heavily on his right hand, but it turned out to be a false alarm.
