KingofNoobs Humbled
Mudaliar First & Last
Grilled Birds would host KingofNoobs United again after an intervening season, if a league level down, and the result at The Cooking Pot would only swing further towards Grilled. Then again, the squad that they brought to Jurong was nearly unrecognizable from the previous time they met, with 36 year-old Spanish skipper Xerardo Rivadeneira the only holdover - and even he's seeking a transfer out of the club in upheaval.
It was hard to imaging how KingofNoobs would carry themselves here, given their obvious limitations as showcased in a 0-6 loss to Singapore Big Dogs last week, and a scarcely less depressing 1-6 crash to Hanns midweek in the Singapore Cup. Young Kok Ming Yew did keep them from another duck egg, with a courageous flying header to score, but he wouldn't crack the starting lineup today. However, the visitors' forward line was probably their strongest remaining department, boasting as it does of Russian hitman Vyacheslav Soikin, who wouldn't be out of place in just about any II.4 side; Esteban Boned and hometown favourite Zhang Yong Huat were nothing to sniff at either.
They weren't about to get very far without service, though, and for all of Rivadeneira's plotting, that was something they wouldn't manage to get, not here against a bubbling Birds selection. A setback in
Islom Davlatov's recovery meant that the first XI mostly picked itself, with
Neeraj Muthyala's omission being the only point of debate. There would be a short ceremony before kick-off presenting
Yuki Irie to the supporters, to mark his final retirement, as he trooped out in Grilled's green as a player for the last time.
Yuki's teammates had proclaimed their desire to make his last outing a celebration, and
Vikram Mudaliar spent all of two minutes to make good on that, as he sprung KingofNoobs' offside trap. The visitors had apparently figured that their best hope was to play high and try to keep the action away from the vulnerable Chau Hock Kim as much as they could, given that they had just sold first-choice keeper Finn Coleman on to Belgium's allez Maurice. Sadly for them, Mudaliar's specialty is the flat-out sprint, and nobody was getting close to him once
Bilal Mohammad Harun found the right weight on his pass.
Rivadeneira must have realized that that wasn't going to work, after
Bhavya Panigrahi made it 2-0 from an essentially-uncontested Künzler cross in the fourth minute, and KingofNoobs would promptly switch to hunkering-down mode. This did work out better for them, but it would still be 4-0 by half-time, as Mudaliar and
Moey Xin Seng broke through by the 20th minute. Trainee playmaker Chua Keong Hui's injury then seemed to take some of the wind out of the match, and it didn't hurt that Rashad Wu was a more than able replacement either.
There weren't too much expectations from the visitors, from the players' chattiness as they walked back onto the pitch for the remaining half, and the Birds took their time in turning the tempo back up too.
Cyril Künzler tore past Raqilla Abbas in th 50th minute only for Chau to come up with a terrific save, but the makeshift goalie's best efforts wouldn't be enough against Moey's clinical finish, six minutes on.
It was then time for a standing ovation, as
Hovaness Noubaryan thought a five-goal lead safe enough for
Yuki Irie to enjoy one last run-out. This he did alongside fellow Japanese-Singapore
Yuta Nakakita, as they replaced Grilled's underworked central defenders.
Yuki certainly wouldn't measure up well against Soikin, but if the visiting fans thought this meant they had a shot at a consolation goal or more, they would be disappointed. The Birds had control enough for an extra man - usually Bilal - to hang out around Yuki, though KingofNoobs would raise some hopes when Chen Wan Qiang was played through, only for
Yuta Nakakita to save the day. Chen appeared to consider taking Yuta down for a moment then, but memories of his recent yellow card remained too fresh.
Neeraj Muthyala would be Grilled's third and last sub, coming on for
Chu Xin Lee with twenty minutes left, and it was simply a matter of how far the Birds would go to pad their goal difference at this stage. KingofNoobs United were just camping in and around their own penalty area by now, and they would survive
Bernie Egan blasting it slightly over, to concede a sixth as Künzler embarassed the far-younger Abbas on the dribble once more.
Grilled had plenty where that came from, and
Yuta Nakakita made the most of his appearance, to go around Chau for 7-0. This left Mudaliar and Moey on their hat-tricks, and the former would complete the tenth of his professional career with a stone-cold delivery from next to no angle.
