Blown Up Thusly
Eight Against Casuals
Grilled Birds had the privilege of facing another set of amateurs in the second round of the Singapore Cup after FC Kimura, though Holland Village's explosion team had only been redesignated as such a few weeks ago, after their management had fallen on hard financial times. With their professionals released, explosion team would have to make do with volunteers from their fanclub members - of which there was no shortage.
Their continued quest to remain in Division Three, after a hardwon promotion, would gain a modicum of hope with the discovery of 18 year-old forward Neo Feng Chin, who had been rated as excellent for his age group, and in fact had received advice to move on if he were interested in making this his career, about which he has shown little interest. Leading the team would be 26 year-old contractor Toh Yong Wei, a hard taskmaster at rightback, which has however pushed them to upset Jurong second divisioners Batok Earthquakes in the first round, if on penalties.
Explosion team's goals came from ranging defenders Chua Fu Aik and See Beng Guang then, but there would be none of that today, with the Birds bent on imposing absolute dominance on contact. Less-familiar names such as
Radovan Jaška, and the experimental deployment of
Sølve Lunde as a defensive midfielder, took little from Grilled's ability to impose themselves, and their suffocating attacking press soon had
Kalki Parvathaneni bundled over by See, as he made a sudden move on the edge of the box. See regretted that almost instantly as Kuka Azaola pointed to the spot without hesitation, and
Mateja Jeftić converted easily.
More goals would come for Grilled in a jiffy, as goalkeeper Low Xin Kok's raw attributes and eagerness to impress were not enough to make up for a lack of formal drilling.
Kalle ter Berg's piledriver in the 15th minute was probably unstoppable even for a far better custodian, but Low's positioning was highly suspect as
Radovan Jaška advanced down the left, as it left him with no recourse once Jaška found the cross high into the middle.
José Luiz Velho merely had to get a touch on the ball, which he did.
Kalki Parvathaneni found the Birds' fourth and fifth goals next, the latter by the 22nd minute, and which also involved a nutmeg on the 30 year-old truck driver See Beng Guang, who was very much at a low point after last week's glory. While determined as a sweeper, See often looked positively immobile against the Grilled forwards' nimbleness and quick feet.
Moey Xin Seng would join in on the party as Jeftić hung a free-kick in the air two minutes later, as he adjusted himself to the barest of glancing touches by
Prokop Mottl, and set himself excellently for the finishing header.
Half-time saw
José Luiz Velho exit for
Toma Tamiya, who would be making his first competitive appearance since exactly the same round of the cup last season, and the homegrown trainee wouldn't wait long before marking it with a goal as before. Toma might not exactly have set the world alight in training, but he certainly seems to know his way around the goal, from his utter bloody-mindedness in elbowing ahead of Li Kwang Hui to get on the end of another free-kick. The hosts made an appeal to Azaola, which was ignored.
Grilled's next substitution came in the 65th minute, as
Wu Jinglong entered for
Prokop Mottl, though he had little enough to do with
Sølve Lunde's concurrent opportunity as
Kalle ter Berg set off on the warpath immediately. Lunde hit a curler on target with Low again having unnecessarily exposed too much of his goal, and the keeper would have to thank Ng Chun Chang for having the presence of mind to protect that portion for him. The match would then be paused for some minutes to allow treatment for explosion team winger Tong Yi Tong, who had cramped up after an unproductive day on the right.
There was no particular urgency to resume play on either end, with the outcome long a foregone conclusion, though
Hilal Bakhtiar would make to expend all his available subs, with
Gilbert Webb sent on for Jeftić for the last ten minutes. With that,
Bhavya Panigrahi became the Birds' designated set-piece man, and he took full advantage with another penalty goal, though this one cut uncomfortably close to the goalie.
Kalki Parvathaneni continued working for his hat-trick, but cooled off his efforts following a horrendous late catch of Chua Fu Aik, which fortunately probably looked worse than it actually was. A deserved yellow card, nonetheless.
