Phondle Pick-me-up
Kalki Comes Through
The Birds got a hold of themselves in the Emerald Challenger Cup quarterfinals, as they sent III.10 leaders Phondle SG crashing out, in a 7-0 rout. It had to be said that their German head coach Felix Lipert had largely seen the writing on the wall, and withheld their biggest names such as Adli Jamal, Petar Ðorđević and Kaspar Leonardi from what would be a suicide mission. Italian midfield stopper Umberto Bettocchi was left to hold the fort as best as he could - which was not very.
With this being probably Grilled's last hope for some silverware for the season,
Hilal Bakhtiar could not afford any further setbacks, and put out a largely first-team selection, with
Abd Hadi Taib Mazhud at left forward, and
Chan Ze Han in midfield. There were some concessions still, with
Gilbert Webb given a chance in defence, and reserve goalkeeper
Manuel Vadalà trusted with his first competitive start of the season.
Any worries about Webb and Vadalà would quickly dissipate, as it became clear that this Phondle lineup was vastly overmatched.
Vikram Mudaliar unleashed the first salvo as he darted around the left of Olivero Lander in the third minute, only to shave his finish too tight with Hungarian goalkeeper Gergő Halmosi mostly at his mercy. It would thus fall to
Chu Xin Lee to record the opening goal some eight minutes later, but really it could have been any of several Grilled players who had been banging on the door before that.
Phondle's day would quickly turn absolutely hopeless as leftback Seah An Ming went off for a second yellow in the 19th minute, after making a hash of a tackle on
Abd Hadi Taib Mazhud despite already being booked for dissent. It was perhaps a reflection of their capitulation that no adjustment in formation was attempted, but they would hang on for some time regardless, aided by excellent shot-stopping by Halmosi off
Salah Kamel. Mudaliar would create a second big chance for himself in the 32nd, only to again miss the goal by inches.
Halmosi's throw following that was not the best though, and
Kalki Parvathaneni would burst past Lander for 2-0, having read it perfectly. Mudaliar would then put the match beyond reach as he finally got it on target after drifting to the right side, as Phondle's disciplinary issues compounded with Bettocchi having to hack
Chan Ze Han down from behind to forestall a likely fourth. That could well have been another sending-off, but referee Jonas Koetsier decided to keep the game somewhat competitive, by limiting the penalty to a yellow card.
This did not affect the basic tenor of the game, and after playing most of the first half with ten men, Phondle were in no condition to venture out much if at all in the second. Even young Portuguese forward António Vasco Gouveia had to be pulled back into his own half to help defend, not that this kept Kalki from again exploiting Lander's lack of pace, to score just three minutes after the restart. The Swiss sweeper would quite understandably look frustrated at his comrades, for a lack of cover there.
It was a matter of how many goals now, and
Chan Ze Han got into the act with a flourish in the 55th minute, as he went for the crowd-pleasing option. He could well have taken
Heng Dong Chu's cross down before picking his spot, what with nearest defender Axel Vallade being caught between them in no man's land, but he instead threw himself into a contorted mid-air volley. The contact was firm, however, and Halmosi was given literally no time to react.
Abd Hadi Taib Mazhud's effort would be cleared off the line by Lander shortly afterwards, with the defender making the most of one of his few clear contributions today. His euphoria wouldn't last for long as Kalki went on to complete his hat-trick with another simple sprint in from the right a few minutes later, for which
Salah Kamel paid the price with a pulled thigh in stretching to provide the assist. Kamel would be back up and running after some basic treatment, fortunately, and the scoring would end with
Bhavya Panigrahi shooting through the defensive wall from a free-kick in the 70th minute.
