Bentinck Bucked
Thet One Left
The Birds drowned their sorrows at the recent defeats with a therapeutic 9-1 steamrolling of Myanmar's Bentinck Island Buccaneers, at their stadium in Tanintharyi. Founded by the same Dutch management group that owns Netherlands fifth division club Vliegende Hollanders, Puerto Rico third divisioners Arecibo Messagers and formerly Kenya's Lions n' Tigers - who had a season in the Ligi Kuu Ya Kenya - the Buccaneers put out a largely homegrown team, and suffered for that.
The exceptions would be temperamental 36 year-old Finnish centreback Mikko Huumonen, whose mood would hardly improve through the course of the day, and young Belgian midfielder Waldo Detaille, who might already be on the way out. Grilled would be free to try players in experimental positions, which most remarkably had defenders
Douglas Carapaica and
Sølve Lunde in central midfield, where they perhaps coped well enough to be considered as emergency options in competitive matches.
Gilbert Webb and
Bhavya Panigrahi were given a chance to work their way back into form, while
Prokop Mottl and
Toma Tamiya got look-ins.
It was evident after a few minutes that there was only one way this game was going, and although the hosts held out for ten minutes, they would be four goals down by the 16th.
Salah Kamel put it past Zaw Aung Kyaw stroking it to the corner, to kick the glut off, which had
Gilbert Webb and then
Kalki Parvathaneni rocking stiff shots from just inside the penalty area, for 3-0 in short order. Kamel went it himself again on the next attempt, and although Huumonen got a leg in the way, the ensuing corner kick had
Sølve Lunde soar above all comers, to swish it home anyway.
The home supporters weren't taking it too badly, given the difference in the level of the sides put out, and the fact that this had to be an escape from the domestic political situation. Grilled weren't about to be too intent on pressing their advantage, though that didn't help the Buccaneers get much closer to the Grilled goal. Soe Moe had a respectable pop from over thirty yards drift a couple of metres wide in the 27th minute, in between Tamiya trying hard to make an impression on the left flank against Thet Myo Aung, with middling success.
The previously mellow nature of the friendly would take a brief turn towards darkness in the 37th minute, when
Prokop Mottl flew into a completely overboard tackle on Buccaneers forward Zaw Zar Ni. Replays showed that the Czech player came dangerously close to snapping Zaw's ankle, and referee Cătălin-Sorin Leaha's decision to give Mottl the benefit of the doubt with a yellow card was not received well, to say the least. The mood would at least return to normal pretty quickly after well-liked Italian striker Eugenio Panioto came in for Zaw, and half-time was reach without further incident.
Radovan Jaška replaced
Salah Kamel for the second half, which would then be graced with
Kalki Parvathaneni's second of the day, as he volleyed a cross from
Wu Jinglong powerfully past the goalkeeper. Kalki himself flirted with a dismissal when he barged Min Phyo Aung into the advertising hoardings in a bid for the ball some 65 minutes in, and the defender seemingly hadn't fully recovered, when
Bernie Egan got past him with a little feint seven minutes later, before going on to score with a measured chip.
Bentinck Island Buccaneers had their goal from the restart, and at 0-6 down, it was not as if conceding another would change their situation all that much.
Wu Jinglong wasn't overly keen on tracking opposing skipper Soe Moe as he advanced down his wing, and youngster Thet Myo Aung - playing only his fourth game at senior level - carried on the good work. Grilled's defenders might have shown Thet a lack of respect by backing off, and were punished when he displayed good shooting ability, to thunder it in at close range off
Manuel Vadalà's glove.
That was it for Wu too, who couldn't entirely hide age catching up with him, despite his immaculate conditioning;
Chu Xin Lee entered for him on the right, with the armband passed on to
Gilbert Webb. The plays got longer as the hosts became less and less able to press the Birds effectively, and after over a minute of pinging it about in midfield,
Bernie Egan would be played through by
Salah Kamel - and onside by Huumonen - for seven-one.
The friendly unfortunately became vicious in the final five minutes, which began with Arkar Ko Naing deliberately keeping Grilled from taking a corner quickly, after Zaw had turned Kalki's strike around the post. The corner would eventually be cleared, but Kalki headed it in on the return for his hat-trick, which had
Chirag Thevar become the Birds' third and final substitution for
Bhavya Panigrahi, during the ensuing celebration and stoppage.
Kalki was not done yet, though, and he would rush right past Mikko Huumonen for a fourth goal on the restart. Problem here was that the Finn veteran had had enough, so it appeared, and he hacked Kalki down well after the ball had gone. This had players from both teams sprint to the spot, raring for confrontation, and it was only prompt intervention from cooler heads and the benches, that prevented an actual flare-up. Ironically, it was Huumonen who emerged the worse from the clash, given that he had to be replaced by Tep Loun after limping off with his left ankle encased in ice - but whether that was to escape more formal punishment, only he will know.
