Tom Tom Takedown
Abd Hadi Revival
The win against Woodlands III.11 side Tom Tom Team in the Emerald Challenger Cup was perhaps expected, especially given their narrow one-goal wins to get through the past four rounds, what more with key Hungarian sweeper Jenő Busa battling through poor form. Igor Goneta had seemingly sacrificed in the league to sustain their quest for cup glory, with only two points garnered from six rounds, but they will now have to look elsewhere as the Birds extinguished those hopes.
It really didn't take too long either, with Tom Tom trying to ride the 5-4-1 that had taken them thus far, and
Moey Xin Seng taking just two minutes to disabuse them of that notion. Five at the back offered false security as Moey was left facing Estonian youngster Ralf Kask by himself, and the Grilled captain wouldn't expend much in baiting an unwise sliding challenger out of the trainee. Kask would be left to rue his overenthusiasm, as Moey sidled past, to score for the eighth of his last nine appearances.
That was a record that many a striker would give an arm for, but as it was, the Birds had no need of that.
Sølve Lunde had endured some tough times against Haha last week, but those memories would soon be diminished greatly, as Tom Tom's loss of composure at going behind so early, rocked them badly. The Norwegian defender would be encouraged to advance naturally as the opponents fell away, and proved the perfect foil for
Chan Ze Han's chest-down just two more minutes after Moey's opener. 2-0.
Well, the Tom Tom supporters probably knew how it was going to end at that, but they did mount something of a challenge over the next twenty minutes or so. Recent signings Cem Name and Krzysztof Niedzielski had some excellent touches here and there, with Name nearly getting the Polish forward through in the seventh minute, and Ralf Kask firing right at
Jānis Salmiņš in the 18th, for their first shot on target for the game. In between, however, Moey had already made it three from a headed corner, as Romanian goalkeeper Anton Parepa got nowhere near.
There would be one more by the end of the half, with
Abd Hadi Taib Mazhud finally returning to the scoring fold, after a five-match drought. The Number Eight had perhaps been too unselfish for a forward, not helped by trying too hard for precision when he did in fact take a shot on. That brought him two shavings of the woodwork, but also a goal when
Chu Xin Lee got it to him from the right, in the 28th minute.
Salah Kamel tried to follow it up, but Parepa pounced correctly then.
It would be time to take it a lot easier, and the Birds moreover had plenty of options on the bench, with
Teo Chuan Yong replacing a still-rusty Chu for the second half... and feeding
Salah Kamel after a dash past Quek Kuan Boon, four minutes after coming on. It just wasn't the Palestine midfielder's day as Parepa blocked it once more, and although
Heng Dong Chu was first to the loose ball, his lob would be dramatically tipped over the bar by a recovering Anton Parepa, at the last second.
That was as much as one could expect out of a goalkeeper, one figures, and the Tom Tom fans could not have blamed him too much, when he got completely sold out by his defence against Abd Hadi after 58 minutes. He did make a couple more exceptional stops - against Chan and then Kamel for a third time - to keep the scoreline relatively respectable, and Grilled would refrain from pressing too hard after Toh Sze Chang had to exit due to a foot injury accidentally inflicted by
Kalki Parvathaneni.
