Benfleet Deny Break
Hermano Smash & Grab
Grilled Birds were denied the end of their non-winning streak at the death, with Benfleet Branch 2 scrounging up an injury-time equalizer through Cape Verde veteran striker Hermano da Cunha, to rescue a 3-3 draw at Tarpots Rec.. It had been a gloomy day in Holland Village even without that, as the Birds created chances aplenty against a Benfleet side not having scored in their last three league matches - only to fall prey to some really poor defensive decisions when it mattered.
0-6 and 0-5 losses to Arcturules and Random Curiosity FC respectively had to lend Grilled some belief here, all the more with Ecuadorean star fullback José Manuel Escobar stricken with a possibly career-ending knee injury. Of course, Hermano aside, South African skipper Liod Jaga remained in top form in midfield, against which the Birds'
Aw Keng Chuan and four trainees should by all rights have been completely outmatched.
Nobody had told that to
Lim An Keng, so it appeared, as the 18 year-old playmaker wore his French opposite number Koray Habil down, with relentless movement and shadowing. Lim demonstrated why he had outshone buddy
Chia Kwang Tse over the past weeks as he made his own shot against Alecsandru Antal in the tenth minute, one that the Romanian goalie had to sweat over. Lim's eager style would eventually prevail, as he dug out a classy chip in the 21st minute that sailed just about over Antal, before dropping into the net.
The home team did not have much of an answer to the Birds at this point, with their far more famous stars unable to match the Grilled youngsters' raw workrate.
Enrique Baena spiced up an otherwise staid shift on the left with a bicycle kick that rattled off the post in the 26th, with Lim going for it from distance five minutes later, missing by yards. The heavy pitch would slow Grilled's advances, but there would be no stopping
Chan Ze Han from anticipating Antal's block off
Bilal Mohammad Harun's header from a corner after 35 minutes, which was 2-0.
Swedish referee Mattias Lifsten would further haul Fernand Coudyzer up for hanging onto
Moey Xin Seng as the corner came in, but his card was barely back in its pocket when Benfleet pulled one back from kick-off; Claudio Anselmo sent his cross in early, and Albert Sobeski got a foot in as
Bhavya Panigrahi missed the connection.
Aw Keng Chuan would match that with a vigorous airborne strike, however, and the Birds entered half-time 3-1 up - and looking very good for three points indeed.
Mohd Marzuki Khairul would try to extend the lead further as the Birds tried to continue their shock and awe from the restart, but swung it a little too high, as the ball sloshed about just outside the penalty area. Benfleet would slow the pace to their own benefit thereafter, and Anselmo would make some especially good deliveries from the left, as he began to have the beating of
Paulino Trindade. Wan Kwang Ting closed in swiftly from the other flank, and his full-on power header would flash past
Dimitris Germanakos in a 57th minute move.
Grilled would return to the driving seat despite that, in a great testament to the industry of their trainees. Although the likes of Lim and Khairul were not quite churning out shooting opportunities any longer, they remained entirely serviceable markers against players that were by far their superior on paper. Thus, despite Antal saving
Bhavya Panigrahi's excellent free-kick, and then Chan's diving header in the 79th, the Birds still looked good for the win.
Kalki Parvathaneni's entry for Moey - and Velho's for Bilal - after that didn't hurt their prospects either, as the two seniors understood exactly what they had to do;
Enrique Baena would put the hurt on Wan Kwang Ting about that time too, but to no consequence other than a booking for himself. The few thousand Birds supporters who had turned up were then eagerly anticipating the confirmation of a change in their fortunes, as the minutes ticked down.
Unfortunately, it had to happen. The two added minutes were all but up, when Anselmo found himself with space on the left, with all hands back in the box for Grilled. That proved a poor choice as the Italian winger closed with all haste with the referee not heeding the away fans' screams to end the game, and a sharp pass along the edge of the penalty area saw it get to Hermano da Cunha, for Anselmo's third assist of the match.
