Robbie Force Draw
Kalle Preserves Streak
Robbie Football Club might have lost their last six meetings against the Birds, if narrowly the last time they met two seasons ago, in the last sixteen of the Singapore Cup. Antti Ravi's adherence to consistent principles in reconstituting his squad had paid off big time, leading to them winning II.1 in a canter last term. This was moreover achieved whilst making no less than eighteen multimillion-dollar transfers through the campaign, about which the Finnish head coach had to be lauded for managing to integrate his signings while missing nary a beat.
Ravi's transfer activity has continued after the start of the S-League season, with Slovenian star Kliton Kašnar completing his delayed move after it had begun proper; German stopper Tim Kai Sörström would have to be sold to Rome-based Robin P.I. in turn, but given RFC's established system, this was not too much of an issue. Some footballing purists might have scoffed at their ultra-defensive approach, with their attacks comprising almost purely of low-percentage pops from distance, but RFC's real-life record would speak for itself.
There would be no Hugo Lamm up top today either, as had been the case in their home win over Ramseille Volliard FC last week, as the visitors were unmistakeably after safety first at The Cooking Pot. Nonetheless, the match could have turned out fairly differently, had referee Juan Uribe made another call in the fourth minute, as
Teo Chuan Yong went down trying to rush past Dennis Koenigsegg on a sudden release from
Vikram Mudaliar. Replays proved inconclusive, but many neutrals would surely not have batted an eye, had the penalty been awarded - with Koenigsegg potentially also sent off.
As it was, there was neither spot kick nor booking as Uribe waved play on after pausing for an instant, and the relieved Robbie Football Club defenders responded by sticking even closer to their assigned targets - for which they certainly had the capacity. This made for frankly boring watching as Moey and Mudaliar would seldom have space to even turn, and
Chan Ze Han's sole saving grace was his having more freedom to float around. Still, he would be reduced to sniffing about with chipped attempts from bad angles, hit more out of hope than anything.
RFC would get their first true opportunity after half an hour, with Jonas Vrubelevsky shielding and waiting for the tackle to come in, which it did from
Chu Xin Lee. Pier Giuseppe Licciardello set it up for Artur Forestier to bypass the defensive wall, but the Frenchman pulled his shot wide. Not so Gunārs Dravenieks six minutes later, who struck a fiercely-swinging knuckleball just so from all of thirty yards.
Ravi would be on his feet as his gamble paid off, and Grilled had big trouble on their hands, as their opponents were only more willing to crowd their own final third. RFC could be frustratingly coy in keeping possession when they wanted to, and an abrupt pull forward on the left by Kliton Kašnar saw
Bhavya Panigrahi clatter him from behind. That was a booking for Panigrahi and the end of Kašnar's day, as he would hobble off with an inside thigh strain.
Moritz Kulmer came on for Kašnar without much fuss, and RFC got to half-time safely. The Birds would be firing on all cylinders upon the restart, with an unusually-adventurous
Teo Chuan Yong nearly giving the visitors a taste of their own medicine in the 50th minute, with a rocket from deep blazing just over the crossbar.
Vikram Mudaliar came even closer in the 59th, bouncing a creative lob back off the goalpost, but
Hilal Bakhtiar had seen enough. Off came an insipid
Wu Jinglong, and on went
Kalle ter Berg, to counter Tomas Askenstedt down the right.
Whether a coincidence or not, that substitute changed Grilled's fortunes, and they would find their equalizer just three minutes afterwards. It was admittedly the same tedious grind, as they sought a way through RFC's sheer numbers at the back, but some nice understanding between Chan and Chu would throw the defence into confusion for once. That opened up a channel for
Bilal Mohammad Harun to surge into, and the Number Six would lay into Koenigsegg with a monstrous right-footed snap, that must surely be amongst the most powerful goals to ever be witnessed at The Pot.
The joy amongst the home support would dissipate quickly enough, as RFC proved themselves masters of taking advantage of the merest slips.
Chan Ze Han had been one of the hardest-working Grilled players yet again, so it was hard to begrudge him a single bad decision that led to him being dispossessed by Gerry Clijsen - but it remained that this led directly to Robbie Football Club's second goal. Clijsen played Artur Forestier in after a direct advance, and he unleashed a perfect strike this time, with
Jānis Salmiņš unable to get to it despite his excellent positioning.
Bakhtiar's response would be to shake it up again, and with
Sølve Lunde demonstrating an early knack for scoring, throwing the big Norwegian on for
Mateja Jeftić did make a lot of sense. With RFC drawing back again, Grilled would have Lunde and Teo more or less exchanging roles when on the front foot, towards getting Lunde's height in on potential crosses. To this end, both Ter Berg and
Salah Kamel went at it hard, but the visiting defence managed to cope, by and large.
Grilled's repeat breakthrough would arrive with eleven minutes remaining, and it turned out to be from another classic combination through the middle, as the Birds showed that they were able to crank up the frequency too;
Moey Xin Seng was all but invited to shoot, but the Birds skipper had the presence of mind to sense
Kalle ter Berg making for a better position - and his weighted pass played with the outside of the boot was a thing of beauty.
Sensing that more points were up for grabs,
Hilal Bakhtiar would continue doing what had worked for his thus far, and wasted no time in spending his third and last substitution bringing
Heng Dong Chu on for
Salah Kamel. Alas, the magic was used up, and RFC would leave the derby with a valuable point in hand.
