Slow But Enough
Uncles Assault
The Birds recovered from their recent league and cup disappointments to win in front of their home faithful, moreover shutting the visiting Benfleet Branch 2 out, in a dominating three-nil. Additionally, it would be players aged 35, 36 and 37 that brought this one in for Grilled, suggesting that while their legs might not be what they once were, they still had it in them.
Benfleet had not exactly covered themselves with glory in the past week either, with another 0-3 loss to CE Sindiket 07, followed by Red Freaking Chillies eliminating them from the Singapore Cup on penalties. Head coach Daniel Neamţiu would promise a response, and towards this end he would have new fullback signing Fernando Semedo Drumond, whom pundits had recognized as the missing piece in his preferred wide 3-4-3 formation. As for Neamţiu himself, he would start at centre forward on a personal mission to turn the tide, with South Korean starlet Seok-Hwan Ha relegated to the bench.
If Benfleet were banking on asking the questions of Grilled's doubtful defence, however, they would be sorely mistaken. On hindsight, Koray Habil and Liod Jaga clearly channeling play towards the outside might have been a mistake, as it allowed the Birds' energetic young midfielders to advance without heed. And, as it turned out, the visitors were not all that solid defensively either, with Belgian sweeper Fernand Coudyzer still nursing a calf concern. That appeared to contribute to his being a fraction slow to cut out
Chan Ze Han's square pass across to
Bilal Mohammad Harun on a broad advance, and the Grilled Number Six elbowed Drumond aside, to send it past Romanian custodian Alecsandru Antal.
Neamţiu was hardly happy at that development, from how he was seen berating several of his teammates - including on-field captain and former Ecuadorean national rightback José Manuel Escobar - as they waited for the restart. There was nothing that he could do about the second goal either, which came in the tenth minute, from
Moey Xin Seng's canny baiting of Habil into a late trip some three yards outside the penalty area. Teo, Chan and
Bhavya Panigrahi stood over it, and after Teo stepped over the ball with a direct run-up, it would be Panigrahi to bend it just around the wall - and in off the far post.
That was another blow right to the heart of the Benfleet team's self-confidence, and they would never quite gather themselves to seize the initiative, after this setback.
Gilbert Webb would be next to attempt a shot in the 14th minute, and wasn't even that far away with his rising piledriver going barely over. It was
Moey Xin Seng then to open his account for the season with a textbook header from Panigrahi's corner delivery in the 30th, soon followed by
Chad Thach whacking it firmly onto the crossbar.
By this time, Neamţiu would be based in his own final third trying to direct the defensive effort, as his midfield sat even further back, making this a makeshift 5-3-2. Attempts to break down the wings were made, but with plenty of willing running from the likes of Thach and
Paulino Trindade in particular, the visitors found it difficult to get the ball to their wingers safely. Wan Kwang Ting would further be found offside several times on the right, to the consternation of the Benfleet support.
They did acclimatize more in the second half, probably aided by the Birds losing much of their previous free-flowing attitude. Lim Ah Keng didn't have the best of halves after coming on either, as his tendency to try and force the most obvious play, would usually be read by the Benfleet defence. That would reduce Grilled to a number of opportunistic strikes from poor positions, which would not pose too much trouble to an alert Antal.
Benfleet's best accounts of themselves would come late into the match, more specifically the last fifteen minutes, as the young Grilled midfield began to lose their focus. This would finally allow Anselmo and Wan to express themselves out wide, and the former would nearly get past Panigrahi in the 75th minute, before settling for a corner. Escobar figured out where it was going and came closest to reaching it, but his glancing header was too shallow.
With
Radovan Jaška then on for Webb, there seemed still a fair chance for Benfleet to secure a consolation goal here, which then appeared locked-on as a terrible mix-up left Albert Sobeski free and clear, in the 82nd.
Manuel Vadalà earned his clean sheet with superb positioning and after refusing to let himself be drawn into committing early, earning him much plaudits from his teammates, even as
Aw Keng Chuan got booked for fouling Jaga after the mistake that led to the breakaway. Given that the Birds were in no real danger of losing, this wasn't too hard to forgive.