Heroj All The Way
Dizdarević Gets Last Word
Montenegro club Heroj Mataguži, who have just finished sixth in their top division, the 1. CFL, won today's friendly at Arena Narodnih heroja against Grilled Birds - but only after extra time. It was a pretty fair contest with both head coaches sprinkling a few stars in with the reserves, among of whom Richard Martin and
Kalki Parvathaneni distinguished themselves the most, for their respective teams.
Other than former Irish youth international Martin, Heroj's biggest name put out today would be homegrown icon Edrin Gjermeni, capped six times for the national side, along with captain and longtime buddy Tomo Spasić. Gojko Ognjanović and Stefan Stojaković would make another local duo at the fullback positions, although their best days are probably behind them. S$16.9 million Finnish signing Karri Nevanpää was nowhere to be found, however, likely due to Lazo Jović being unwilling to risk him in such an exhibition.
Grilled had the same mixed bunch skippered by
Teo Chuan Yong, who was often left with just
Heng Dong Chu to push the attack - which the winger did with admirable efficiency, given that he was often closed down by both Gjermeni and Ognjanović on his flank. The tenth minute saw his premier moment of the half, when he knocked a flighted ball out wide past the latter on the run, before suddenly cutting his dribble and getting it to
Toma Tamiya, just seven yards from goal. The 22 year-old reserve winger sadly got too fancy in trying to curl it to the far corner, quite unnecessarily as it turned out.
That was an exception with Heroj's midfield generally overpowering Grilled's, what with Teo being the only one of Gjermeni and Spasić's stature there, and it was to the Birds' good fortune that they had the young and somewhat panicky Tomislav Dakić as their target man. Martin was another kettle of fish altogether, though, and the Irishman came within a whisker with his whimsical chip in the 28th minute. He would have his side in front three minutes later, after a
Sølve Lunde handball while stretching to block a cross.
Manuel Vadalà went the right way for the penalty, but it was too well-struck.
José Luiz Velho had a poor finish easily caught by Radojica Pavlović as the Birds came through the middle on the restart, and but for Milić Lagator's booking for time-wasting a bit later, the rest of the half saw no real action. That would change when
Kalki Parvathaneni arrived for Heng for the second half, and while Heng had been one of the Birds' most-productive players already, Kalki simply added yet another dimension to the team.
The 35 year-old had that unnatural acceleration, for once, and while he could no longer turn it on at will as he had in his younger days, there was still more than enough of it, to catch the unwary flat. Ognjanović would be one such unwitting victim, as he evidently hadn't expected to be run right at from a standing start, in the 56th minute. A slick crossover saw Kalki get through along the goalline, and there would be a top-class finish high into the net from an acute angle, as Pavlović went low anticipating the square ball.
That was sheer class from the Grilled star, but also the best that the Singaporeans had to offer for awhile. Heroj remained with the edge in possession, and Spasić would be set up very nicely indeed by Gjermeni in the 60th minute, only to hold his shot for too long. They kept the pressure up, however, and Richard Martin would have them ahead some twelve minutes later, as he fanned along the outside of the box coming in from the right, considered his options, and swung it right to the top right-hand corner of goal for 2-1.
Against expectations, however, the match would nearly be won by Grilled in regular time. Martin's lead would last barely two minutes this time, as the Birds eked out a corner kick thanks to some quick thinking by
Atang Mangoye, and
Cameron Law would bundle it home after
Dante Tran had it blocked on the line.
José Luiz Velho then nearly put the Birds ahead for the first time, but his attempt to dribble past Pavlović was stymied by the goalie at the last moment.
Extra time it was then, with
Dan Alstani and
Leonard Nguyen replacing Tran and Mangoye for the overtime. Given that
Moey Xin Seng remained available on the bench, this was a sign that Bakhtiar was prepared to remain sporting. Thus it was that the hosts maintained their slight advantage, which eventually had centreback Bratislav Uzelac slot it past Vadalà, following a lengthy Heroj spell right at the end of the first period.
That had Kalki fired up, and the Number Ten won more than a few scattered claps from even the home crowd, when he dodged several challenges to equalize once more with a worldie, some minutes later. Peđa Dizdarević's goal - that would turn out to be the winner - would of course be no less popular, but there wouldn't be much grumbling from the visitors here.
