Misr After Time
Khaled Parting Shot
Egyptian III.15 side Misr HO would be the guests to The Cooking Pot for this weekend friendly, which would turn out to be quite edifying for Grilled Birds' new-look XI.
Moey Xin Seng and
Teo Chuan Yong might have provided some much-needed support coming from the forward line, but this would have the youngsters do a lot on their own, in racing to a six-goal lead by the ninety.
It was a pretty fair matchup actually, with any but all of Misr's selected players yet to appear in a fifth match at the senior level, what with the club being newly-refounded. Left striker Islam Abd El Tawwab has been held to be their greatest hope, with 30 year-old captain Khaled El Bendary holding the fort at rightback. As for the Birds, both
Chan Ze Han and
Abd Hadi Taib Mazhud remain expected to be out through the post-season, which leaves
Chu Xin Lee and
Bilal Mohammad Harun to provide the width.
The minor injury crisis had 31 year-old utility man
Yee Jian Hui moonlighting as the target man, a role which he lived up to by the sixteenth minute. This was probably more due to an early injury to sweeper Karim Abd El Aziz, though, which had him hobble ineffectually after Yee, as
Chad Thach found an angle for the through pass. Karim would be gone four minutes later after another knock to his right foot, which had Abd El Raouf Bassiouny take over at the back.
That wouldn't improve the visitors' situation much, and Bassiouny would feel hard done by Swiss referee Jakob Cristian, when he blew for his supposed grabbing of Moey's shirt in the 25th minute - a very soft penalty.
Bhavya Panigrahi would lump it in all the same, and it would then be
Chia Kwang Tse's turn to spurn two great opportunities. The first would be his helping on of a corner, but it would be just a little too far for
Lau Chu Soon, who could only touch it onto the post. Next, Bilal would squeeze it through to him, but he then curled it too heavily.
That second effort would not go astray for long, however, as the ball somehow stayed in play. Samir Anan's waiting for it to go out proved unwise as the hardworking Bilal retrieved it on the goalline, and the veteran went it himself when a pass to his forwards seemed more appropriate. His finish was immaculate, however, which made it 3-0. As it was, Yee would get his own chance in the very next minute, but skied it this time under pressure from Khaled.
Yee would leave for
Prokop Mottl for the second half, with
Lim An Keng on for Chia, and it really got going again after eight stagnant minutes, as
Chad Thach drove it hard down the middle, brooking no opposition. He brought Lim into the move with a well-advised lay-off after attracting too much attention, who would instantly send it forward for Moey. The league top scorer was hoping for just that, but cut it too close with his effort onto the crossbar.
Grilled were still compressing play very well, and Panigrahi would take advantage from open play in the 65th minute, as the Birds sent just too many bodies into the box for the Misr defence to overcome. Lau would be off for
Gilbert Webb for the last twenty minutes, and the Scotsman would prove very useful in hurrying play out of his own half. This eventually led to
Aw Keng Chuan's raid from the right after an ad-hoc switch with Bilal, and the Number Four turned out to have a pretty accurate left foot on him too. 5-0.
There would be time enough for a sixth as Moey finally got his in the 82nd minute after an extended tussle on the dribble against Maged Agamawy, but that was not the end of the story. Misr skipper Khaled El Bendary would be the only one to react as the referee allowed play to go on after what seemed like a serious clash of legs between Ramy Abd El Aziz and
Chu Xin Lee on the touchline. The goal would stand, but Ramy would have to be taken off for the few minutes remaining.
