Kimura Good Show
Khoo Nearly
Overperforming East Coast amateurs FC Kimura would be placed in the Birds' way after entering the Singapore Cup proper from a wonderful pre-qualifying run, and while no-one quite imagined that they could have won, they exuded fight and promise in a credible 0-6 loss. Conversely, it would be Grilled Birds who got criticized as being overly restrained, as they enter the new season.
With nine Division Five titles in their cabinet, FC Kimura could hardly be described as johnny-come-latelies, even if the former Clementi Rovers have stuck obstinately to their non-professional status in the 38 years since their refounding. Having drawn their squad from beach-goers serious about the game for decades, FC Kimura have built a reputation for being one of the best-organized amateur clubs in the land, and it showed in their talent profile.
Led by 34 year-old bookkeeper and striker Lu Ting Ah, Kimura have never been slow to welcome new blood, as evidenced by Lu's 19 year-old partner Irfan Bakti bin Othman. Irfan's vaunted technical ability would be supported by the pair of Khoo Yong Kang and Mah Jie Shi in midfield, both of whom had coincidentally featured for the same junior college back in the day. Dead balls would be the domain of Chinese expat defender Jin Changkai, who had stayed on and obtained citizenship after arriving in Singapore on a scholarship.
It all made for an engaging story for the underdogs, which could well have been embellished with a goal, had they taken their chance from an eighth minute corner. The Birds were still taking it easy at that stage, and some cunning from Lu had him play the ball off
Heng Dong Chu and behind. Jin's corner would be proactively met by Zhao Yunzong, and Khoo would be left with a moment in which he was absolutely free to score. His hesitation allowed
Sølve Lunde to fly in with the tackle, sadly, and the Norwegian was inch-perfect with it.
Kimura barely had time to mourn that opportunity not taken, as Grilled were convinced of the necessity to take their opponents down a peg soon.
Chan Ze Han was one of those who had never been taking it easy, and he would leave Samin bin Mohamed Rumi no choice but to take him down, on his next possession. Samin would be spared a booking, but the Birds got what they wanted, as
Bhavya Panigrahi curled the free-kick past Mohd Nizaruddin bin Rasdi.
Probably not even their own fans had expected anything very different, but the full house at Kimura Stadiumo would maintain their full-throated support of their team, as the game continued. Kimura were forced onto the defence - and didn't do too badly, all considered - but unavoidably fell further behind to
Vikram Mudaliar's incursion and chip in the 25th. Four minutes later, Mohd Nizaruddin could have done better against
Chan Ze Han's forced strike after being mobbed on the right side of the box, but 3-0 it would be.
Lu Ting Ah would be marshalling his forces in front of his own penalty area by now, as Grilled kept the pressure up;
Salah Kamel, given a try on the right wing, couldn't quite replicate Kalki Parvatheneni's breakout season out wide, and remained at his best when cutting infield. One such pass had Mudaliar through, only for both ball and forward to be wiped out by Mohd Nizaruddin's challenge. Referee Ernst Gasparetto would be persuaded that it was a foul by his assistants, and
Bhavya Panigrahi slotted the penalty in at the right bottom corner.
The restart saw FC Kimura back at their best, and their positive mindset from the kick-off saw Woon Chu Yew deploy a delightful inside-out cross, from the left side. Unfortunately, Duan Youguang barely missed the connection as it went long to him, and Grilled's response had Jin first scrambling
Teo Chuan Yong's slightly-lazy finish off the line, and
Kalle ter Berg then rushing the follow-up into the side-netting.
That egregious miss had the Dutch midfielder with head in hands, but a consolation was that Grilled were never starved of chances. They had nearly all the possession that mattered, some notable retrievals by Khoo notwithstanding, and
Moey Xin Seng would add a fifth in the 63rd minute, as
Bilal Mohammad Harun worked it past several opposition players. This also saw Zhao Yunzong receive the only card of the day, as he was punished for taking Moey down marginally after the shot had been made.
Wu Jinglong would enter for
Heng Dong Chu in the 70th minute, and there could hardly have been a better advertisement for his continued potential to contribute, as he scored with his first touch. Always one to use his head, Wu would make his entrance as unobtrusive as possible, and made good ground on the unsuspecting Zhao before suddenly breaking towards goal.
Kalle ter Berg understood what he had to do, and placed his assist in just the right spot.
That was it for Grilled, as Kimura's drive towards keeping the score down would not be diminished, though
Chan Ze Han would go for a seventh in injury time, after being handed the armband as Moey went off for Kalki.
Chu Xin Lee proved a very useful distraction as he replaced
Salah Kamel on the right, but Chan's lob would ultimately be struck a little too hard.
