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| FIXTURE HISTORY |
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| Season 71 | W | 3 - 2 | Friendly | | Season 69 | W | 0 - 6 | Friendly | | Season 64 | L | 1 - 2 | Tournament (Group Phase) | | Season 59 | W | 5 - 0 | Tournament (Group Phase) | | Season 57 | W | 4 - 0 | Friendly |
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Fair Warning
Neeraj Brained
Farmer Bunnies may have surpassed the Birds in the official rankings, but Grilled's quite convincing victory over them at Carrot Field, in this last game of both clubs' seasons, contained a hidden message: it won't be easy. Not that the Buns' didn't know it, but the enormity of Grilled's command might give added pause.
The case can of course be made, as to how both teams were far from their best; both arguably had their regulars in their trademark departments - defence and midfield respectively - only, and left the captaincies to their backup goalkeepers. If the hosts had imagined that this would bring them parity, however, they would be mistaken, as the Birds rode their initiative to all too many open shots.
They did keep the first twenty minutes quiet, as Grilled weren't overly anxious in pushing men forward, and they took their big moves only after they had taken Bunnies' measure. Or, at least,
Kalki Parvathaneni took
Sunil Patel's, as he left the 18 year-old defender with figuratively broken ankles after identifying that he was isolated. Patel didn't take it well, and made to contest claiming the ball from the net rather too physically, and would be officially cautioned by Spanish referee Xoel Laxos.
Neeraj Muthyala would wave for a substitution after he felt giddy in the 32nd minute, the fruits of a resounding clash of heads with
Kwek Yun Jie, and
Hovaness Noubaryan obliged by sending
Yee Jian Hui on for him. The foul was given Grilled's way, and
Gilbert Webb's outside delivery would be sent back across the face of goal, for
Chu Xin Lee to turn past the scrambling
Rashid Nasir al Din. The Buns were backing way off now, and
José Luiz Velho,
Prokop Mottl and
Heng Dong Chu all had legitimate opportunities to score in the next several minutes.
Dalibor Kostadinović was yelling for his charges to show some ambition by now, and
Vishnu Tallapaka answered the call, not once but twice. He offered himself as a second winger on the right, as
Richard Agyei scoured the field for options, and would be brought down roughly by the uncompromising
Bhavya Panigrahi. No worries for Tallapaka, who dusted himself off and bent the free-kick in, just under the crossbar and across from the stranded
Eren Serpin.
That was the last kick of the first half, but it proved to be merely a brief respite for the hosts. The match restarted with Grilled Birds not wasting any time in getting their engine running, and
Bilal Mohammad Harun quickly found some space down the left to work in.
Bernie Egan did his utmost to simultaneously stake out a good position within the Buns' backline, and got his foot in for Grilled's third goal in a strike borne of incredible vision.
Egan would be slowed after taking one rapid turn too many in the 68th minute, but Grilled had added another by then, with
Heng Dong Chu following coaching directives in shooting more freely. And, from the power that he packed in the twenty-five yarder that skipped past
Rashid Nasir al Din brooking no dissent, it was no wonder why he had been told to try that more often!
Prokop Mottl then joined in on the act, with another well-worked goal, as Bilal found
Tan Dong Hao wanting as a marker on his flank. The Bunnies' Tan would have his moment, though, as he ran onto a through ball over the top sent by
Wong Ting Yew in the 72nd minute. Panigrahi closed Tan down, but he somehow managed to pot it in the gap left between defender and keeper there.
39 year-old
Ermis Ftenopoulos would then take his bow for the worn-out
Daniel Nguyen for the final ten minutes, having announced his retirement shortly before this.
Chirag Thevar,
Yuki Irie and
Tham Leng Teck would join him for the last few minutes, though the game had slowed to a walk by then.
