Serpent Stifled
Chan Class
Local Ang Mo Kio-based Hattrick Anniversary League side Jormungandr would have their open friendly invitation accepted as the Birds stayed home, in what would also be
Gandhik Chitre's introduction to the senior game.
Chan Ze Han would be head and shoulders above everybody else on the field, and only concerted multi-man marking, combined with some terrible luck in the second half, kept him from a deserved hat-trick. Seet Hock Shun would shine in spurts for the hosts on the right, but did not quite compare to Chan here.
Jormungandr had been doing decently well in VII.2153 of the Hattrick Anniversary League, despite narrowly going down in their latest fixture against SilverDog, despite head coach Chew Wan Min yet to make his first transfer. Well, the Birds were not exactly sending out their absolute best today either, with the exception of Chan and a much-reduced
Kalki Parvathaneni in attack. This wasn't as huge a draw as the money-men might have hoped, with barely more than a thousand tickets sold for the game.
No matter, Chan was on it as always, and the combined - and entirely warranted - attentions of Jay Yang and Mohd Yaseen Mohd Khairul Aizat were not enough to stop him from scoring before the tenth minute.
Enrique Baena enjoyed a favourable matchup against the young-and-learning Kwek Lai Su, and would play the ball inside for Chan in the eighth; a decisive drag-back took Yang out of the picture, and Chan then cut back in, to drill it powerfully past Gu Chun Meng.
The home team were attempting to stick to the basics in their standard 4-4-2, but the elemental force than Chan was created openings in his wake, wherever he went. Such was the case in the 13th minute when Kalki and
Chad Thach made good distance up the left, which culminated in
Chirag Thevar being put through for another simple tap-in.
Hwang Teck Fu would not hesitate when presented with the opportunity to shoot from the edge of the box by Chan three minutes later, but swirled it marginally wide. This did still get him a thumbs-up from the captain, however.
It was hardly champagne football with the raw Grilled midfield making its fair share of mistakes and poor decisions, but Jormungandr were in no condition to take much advantage either, as
Mohsen El Khateeb did well to screen the defence. Chan would go it himself with a solid barnbuster inside the left post in the 25th minute, as Hwang kept up with his efforts from breaking runs down the middle. To these, Gu would be equal, at least.
Enrique Baena and
Manuel Vadalà would be swapped out for
Paulino Trindade and
Cameron Law at half-time, with Law like Vadalà barely called into action throughout.
Yee Jian Hui would get the ball rolling with a forty-yard attempt that might well have been construed as disrespectful in the 48th minute, but for the fact that Gu struggled to hold on to it, and had to rise quickly to make a second block off Chan's urgent follow-up.
There would be a couple more excellent saves by Gu off Thach and Chan within the next ten minutes, with Chan then sending one soaring narrowly over, as the hosts started to swamp him with renewed determination.
Atang Mangoye's arrival for Kalki didn't help Chan's hat-trick quest, and Jormungandr soon achieved their first shot on target for the day, with Kwek Lai Su giving
Cameron Law some work to do. This would also result in Thevar getting the only card of the game for a foul in the build-up on Nasruddin Helmi, but Grilled would have the last say, with Thach looping one home on their next advance.
