Bots Moderated
Moey Time
The Birds might not have managed to defeat Bot Team FC either time they met in the S-League two seasons back, but the Bots would get their comeuppance in the fifth round of the Singapore Cup today. Most of the same old faces were involved, with Kong Kian Chee and Stewart Russell again finding the net for Bot Team FC, only this time Grilled gave more than they got.
The Toa Payoh giants had been devastating on Sunday against Ramseille Volliard FC, even if the 3-2 scoreline didn't entirely reflect their sheer attacking repertoire, and most betting outlets had them as slight favourites entering the contest.
Hovaness Noubaryan had however stuck to his guns on a Birds win, though he made concessions to Bot Team FC's midfield strength by playing
Bernie Egan and
Kalki Parvathaneni as tucked-in wingers, foregoing width for stability.
This was, of course, a risky trade-off against wingers of such ability as S$14.8 million Turk Bahri Han, and Leandro Andrade was more than capable of making tactical adjustments himself, as he went for a deep-sitting central three coupled with an emphasis on wing movement. This would bring an excellent counterattacking chance for Oleg Konaev in the 16th minute, and although
Massoud Dob parried the German's drilled effort, Kong Kian Chee was there to score for the third game in a row against Grilled.
It was a difficult pill to swallow for the Birds, who arguably had gained the upper hand just before that goal, and they were under threat of being dumped on by a vigorous Bot offense;
Bhavya Panigrahi had to give up a yellow card for a hashed saving tackle on Konaev next. Fortunately, Grilled had
Moey Xin Seng's grit and leadership to count on, and the 30 year-old skipper would dart past Paride Bolognini to squeeze a first-time strike low under Nicolas Jardin.
There would be a long stoppage a bit later, as
Gilbert Webb suffered a crocked right knee, and would have to be replaced by
Yuta Nakakita. The match then entered a comparative lull, only to be reawoken by
Bilal Mohammad Harun's clever reading of
Vikram Mudaliar's trick pass, which allowed him to put Grilled Birds ahead the way he knew best - with sheer power behind his shot. Russell would reply immediately, however, as Grilled's defence got caught napping on Fabio Trasferti's lifted ball.
Cyril Künzler was seen warming up on the sidelines through the interval, ostensibly on Noubaryan's instructions, but the winger would ultimately stay on the bench as Grilled restarted the match. That said, the Birds had clearly taken the measure of Bot Team FC now, as Han and Kumi found themselves increasingly shut down. This left Grilled to steer the action towards the centre, where they could do the most damage.
Bot Team FC were hardly poor defenders by any means, but it remained a relatively weak spot, and the raw volume of Grilled's attempts would eventually have to tell. Former national star Kong seemed to have expertly headed off another long ball towards
Chu Xin Lee in the 65th minute, but he hadn't counted on Moey's deadeye accuracy on the half-volley; Jardin was again well-beaten, as the Birds went 3-2 up.
If Grilled weren't sitting pretty after that, they would be five minutes later, as
Bernie Egan clipped a far-messier effort over the line. The Bot players would surround referee Stefan Bãleanu, protesting that Egan had taken Jardin out in the process, but Bãleanu wasn't moved. The Birds kept it up, and
Chan Ze Han then swung it onto the crossbar with his weaker foot, in the 75th.
Andrade did have emergency reserves to draw upon, and he made the double substitution of Anthony Jarvis and David Anžel with ten minutes to go, in an effort to close the gap with fresh legs. Unfortunately for them, Noubaryan's recent commitment to stamina training had evidently paid off for his men, and there was little sign of them tiring out.
There was a touching moment as Moey handed his armband off to
Yuta Nakakita as he strode off in the last minute to a hero's reception, and there would nearly be a fitting send-off too, but Jardin would save off
Bhavya Panigrahi's blast in injury time.
