clown 0 - 4 Grilled Birds
Clowning Around
Same Old Hobson
A trip down to Ecuador was strangely poignant as their double winners El Barcelona S. C. had just eliminated Singapore's other Masters side ChAmPzz. Despite playing away, they racked up two early goals en route to a 3-0 scoreline that did not truly reflect the complexion of the match.
Owning to the Masters match, Grilled had to bring an almost totally different starting eleven to the South American nation. The sole exception was Dutch winger
Hidde van Liere, who was still on the Masters adrenaline rush and cajoled Alcántara to put him on the flight, which he obediently spent napping.
Alcántara admitted he was surprised when he discovered the altitude they would be playing at. "The stadium was near Quito, which is well over 2km above sea level. The air was thin enough to be noticeable."
Grilled's professionals were all athletes and adjusted quickly enough, helped by hosts clown's refusal to play a frantic game. They had a rather odd strip consisting of a purple jersey over green shorts, in keeping with their club name. Nothing too silly about their tactics though, a stolid 4-5-1.
clown invited Grilled to run at them, and this essentially friendly of reserve sides soon became an affair concentrated in their half of the field. van Liere was unstoppable in spurts but began to feel the effects of insufficient rest. It didn't look like Kaj Dalsgård's fault that he toppled over in the 20th minute, but the referee gave the penalty anyway.
Hobson, ever prepared, hit the spot kick sweet and low. The 31 year-old Englishman fully deserved to score, as he still takes dozens of practice shots each day. Hjortlind was halted by an impeccably timed challenge after Bertilsson had lost control of the ball, but van Liere soon went at it again and assisted Hobson to a second goal, this one from open play.
clown were now pressed to keep the score down, and Jie Siong was inches away from putting his name on the scoreboard with a diving header that covered a lot of ground. Homegrown goalie Gonzalo Bonilla was up to it, and extended all the way to the post to get his forearm in the path of the ball.
Grilled would then pick up what seems like a customary injury for them these days. Young Elias Roldán was a long way from defence when he lost out on a header, and in his haste to recover the ball brought down 34 year-old sweeper
Lan Tuan-Mu. The bad fall had Lan clutching his shoulder in pain, and fringe defender
Nor Suhaimi bin Che Lah was called into action for the first time in a long while.
The second half opened with Hobson earning grudging admiration from some opposition players with a delightfully flighted free kick that curved across goal and into the top corner. It was yet another hat-trick for the Goalmachine, who has a few years left in him yet.
There was a symbolic passing of the torch when Hobson, through after some miscommunication in the clown backline, eschewed a decent chance for his fourth when he stroked the ball across to a rampaging Jie Siong. The eager young midfielder had no need to strike hard, but he did anyway and rocked the goalframe with his blast into the net.
clown began to get more organized, and Grilled had no further tries on target until Spirig surged in. Roldán butted in with a typically hard bodycheck, but got the worst of it this time and took an unintended elbow into his ribcage. He was clearly in no condition to continue, leaving S$3 million Dutch first-teamer Ben van Beijnum to make his entrance.
Weng Seng-Huat, who has yet to score officially for Grilled in a long career with the Birds, looked unlikely to break his duck anytime soon as the utility wingback lobbed into the gallery from just five metres. Niceto Heredia had the final word with a crunching swipe that floored Hobson, but Tim was all smiles as he picked himself off the ground. It is hard to dismay a hat-trick hero, after all.
