Like Tigers And Dragons
Baena Grabs Notice
Today's cup match saw five Grilled players make their competitive full debuts, and while it didn't exactly have a happy ending, there would at least be some concrete return for the combustible
Enrique Baena, who capped an indisputably-entertaining intro with a well-taken goal. Not so for 22 year-old goalkeeper
Cameron Law, sadly, as his long wait to be called into action, would be marked by six strikes against him by derby opponents The Sing Tigers - moreover, mostly not even his fault.
While not exactly unacquainted with the Tigers, the Birds' last meeting with them had been thirteen seasons ago, where they promoted back into the second division at their expense. Of that side,
Moey Xin Seng,
Bilal Mohammad Harun and
Chan Ze Han would again make an appearance, with
Gilbert Webb and
Prokop Mottl staying on the bench today. Bilal would however captain the team from defence in a 3-5-2, with
Teo Chuan Yong also posted besides
Aw Keng Chuan. Other than Law and Baena,
Lim An Keng,
Paulino Trindade and
Hwang Teck Fu would also earn their spurs, and all these three in midfield.
Tigers had turned over their entire squad since then, under Italian head coach Domenico Cesaro, as they largely bounced between Division Three and Division Four. Cesaro has placed an emphasis on cultivating their wide players, so it seems, and gone back home to recruit Nicola Fresta and Diego Tizzano - both just turned twenty - as his fullbacks for the future. They would rely on experience in the middle, with 36 year-old Uzbek Amir Boymurodov acting as glue, which would be more than enough to handle the Birds' raw fledglings.
Their man to watch would be Serbian veteran forward Mór Séllei, though, as he made a mockery of Grilled's supposed defensive system, within the first ten minutes. There were barely a hundred seconds on the clock when he turned an overeager
Lim An Keng on the edge of the box, and whipped an unsaveable cracker well out of Law's reach. More luck would be involved in the eighth minute, when his stooping header on Adin Zlomušica's short cross got deflected by Teo, entirely wrongfooting the goalkeeper - but they all count.
It was probably going to happen sooner or later anyway, from how the Birds' midfield was as a leaky sieve, though that much had to be expected from a bunch of kids experiencing their first pro match. Lim would actually look the most stable of the lot after his early mistake, with
Hwang Teck Fu willing but lost in the critical stopper role. As for
Mohd Marzuki Khairul, his instincts were geared towards offering himself in advanced positions, which suffice to say would not have a good return in these circumstances.
Travis Guo would up the Tigers' lead to three in the 23rd minute, as
Aw Keng Chuan found himself faced down by both strikers, as his fellow defenders found themselves guarding the opponents' very-advanced fullbacks instead. Aw reasonably stuck with Séllei, which however left Guo to put it away. Grilled's last remaining hope would be one of Moey and Chan conjuring something by themselves, which the latter did with a teasing dribble forty minutes in, that lured Tizzano into an unwise bodycheck. Qatari referee Aziz Saad felt that deserved a penalty, and
Bilal Mohammad Harun sent it past Hein Pelleboer in a businesslike manner.
The Sing Tigers had been losing a little of their shape actually, being more accustomed to having four or five at the back, not that they really needed that today.
Chia Kwang Tse's half-time entrance for Lim didn't really boost the Birds' prospects where it mattered, and it was again left to the hosts to break Grilled's defence down. Tavi Ciocănaru came through with a wicked left-footed strike in the 68th minute, but Law got himself in the way then.
That would however be but a brief respite, as the Birds failed to clear their lines convincingly, and they would be caught napping after a long throw-in found Raja Nooh Halim unmarked. The transfer-listed Number Eight turned to Czech winger Tadeáš Malovaný with the outside of his boot, and Malovaný did the would-be assist justice with a calm grounder past a forsaken
Cameron Law.
Grilled's bright moments were few and far between, and most of those - hopeful balls to
Chan Ze Han aside - could be attributed to
Enrique Baena down their left wing. While not often successful with his runs, it had to be said that Baena never stopped trying, and the sheer volume and intensity of his efforts eventually wore Fresta down, if just a little. Baena looked hopelessly isolated when Marzuki finally got through to him on the restart, but a simple give-and-go with
Moey Xin Seng later, he would be celebrating his debut goal at the corner flag.
It was 4-2, then, and the Tigers would seem momentarily vulnerable, as Grilled's youngsters exerted themselves towards an unlikely comeback. The Tigers' basic defensive nous served them well through this period, although Tavi Ciocănaru did get booked for booting the ball away to buy time for his side to regroup. The Birds were not spared cards either, as
Aw Keng Chuan attempted to earn another penalty in actively manufacturing contact and a fall in the 79th minute, but was utterly unconvincing.
Mór Séllei would take it upon himself to nip Grilled's threat in the bud, as the Tigers attacked down the right from the resulting free-kick. There would be some excellent interplay between Fresta and Zlomušica that opened the field up for the latter to execute a cross uncontested, and Teo would marginally miss the defensive header on it. No such problems for Séllei, who met it firmly with his forehead and down, and drove his hat-trick goal in off the grass.
A buoyed Zlomušica would receive the third yellow card of the day as he took Baena down a couple of minutes later, but that would be but a prelude to some glory of his own. His partnership with Fresta was paying great dividends, not the least due to Baena being quite unreliable on defense, and Teo would again be sold out on a two-on-one. The Bosnian would have a tight angle to work with, but it turned out to be sufficient to score from in the end.
