Four Ton Trucking
Teo Takeover
It wasn't the best day for soccer at The Cooking Pot, what with it having rained the whole night before, but the final result would be one to warm their supporters' hearts. HEBFC Tonners FC had won the reverse fixture 4-3 at home, albeit against a Birds side forced to start
Gandhik Chitre, with
Moey Xin Seng unavailable. Well, the 39 year-old captain would be there to kick it off this time, with
Chan Ze Han instead relegated to the bench, after some less-than-stellar displays in training.
This meant a veteran attack of Moey,
Teo Chuan Yong and
Kalki Parvathaneni then, which even though far removed from its glittering prime, had guile enough to worry Jurek Forma and company in the Tonners' three-man backline.
Egemen Dinçer Ferzan would return to the left wing with
Tian Yonghang wanting some goals to erase the stain of Grilled's recent losses, and
Manuel Vadalà would also start for the first time in league competition this season, with
Dimitris Germanakos given a break. Vadalà wouldn't disappoint.
The Tonners had to be accounted a serious threat, having upset LKS FC last week whilst coming close against TeamNigma, which was more than the Birds could claim. This had to be considered alongside a head-scratching loss versus fc.tower, though, which spoke of an inconsistency to Li Woon Kok's free-flowing style. Pundits would regard the form of 22 year-old former Singapore U-20 defensive midfielder Othman Hariry as critical to their chances, and as it turned out, it wasn't all that great on the day.
Grilled were not waiting to establish themselves, and
Chad Thach would sling a warning bite just clear of Andrea Migliozzi's crossbar, three minutes in. Ferzan would attract a late takedown from Erik Nápoles in the 22nd minute, which got the Mexican the game's first booking, and the visitors would finally crack with an unintentional-looking handball awarded against Yong Siong Eng several minutes later.
Bhavya Panigrahi's confident strike to the left side of goal seeme spot-on, but Migliozzi somehow knocked it over.
Not only that, the corner would be cleared long to produce the Tonners' first clear opportunity, as Nápoles got his own back in outracing Ferzan on the return. Michal Balkovič couldn't get any power behind his awkwardly-placed take, however, and Vadalà cleaned up. Migliozzi would however continue to steal the show with his keeping masterclass as he saved a Thach thunderbolt, before his defence chipped in to hustle Teo and then Moey aside.
Enrique Baena came off second best in trying to get the ball back from Jesse Zabel on the latter, and will now sit out the season-ender with his third yellow for the season.
The Birds had more pressing concerns at the moment, though, and
Chad Thach's excellent first-half shots would not be enough to keep him from getting subbed off for
Hwang Teck Fu at half-time. This was however on hindsight a good move, with Hwang providing much more balance to the Grilled midfield. With this switch,
Lim An Keng would be freed to attempt more direct runs, which soon resulted in an assist to
Teo Chuan Yong, following a neat interchange with Ferzan on the left.
With that mental block now out of the way, the lead would be doubled by
Aw Keng Chuan in very short order. The Tonners' previous composure would be rocked by Teo's opener, and they wound up badl disorganized, after an admittedly smooth passing sequence overstayed its welcome.
Damian Hutter would get the reversal going with a well-timed step-in on Gay An Soon, and the sweeping return would see Aw get the necessary final touch.
That was effectively the game there, with Tonners having exhibited next to no ability to threaten Vadalà, all the more with the rain resuming - this made moving the ball increasingly hard, as
Moey Xin Seng found out when he snatched at his shot in the 63rd minute, sending it high. There would be no such problem for Panigrahi in the 66th, though, as he compensated for his earlier penalty failure, with an exquisite free-kick from nearly thirty yards. Even Migliozzi had to allow himself a faint smile at that.
Aw Keng Chuan had enjoyed a banner day thus far shielding the Birds defence, but it would be marred by a late high challenge on Balasubramanian Teja, in the 66th minute. This might have been a red to a stricter referee, but Welshman Ryan Chaplin settled for a yellow, as Tan Tse Kok had to replace Teja. Tian would use the stoppage to prep
Bilal Mohammad Harun further, before the veteran took over from Moey.
Grilled's final sub would be used on
Gilbert Webb, who finally returned after six weeks out following the serious ankle injury he sustained against Winnetou Reborn. The restarting throw-in would have Kalki quite blatantly held in the box by Leon Ahn, which meant a second penalty that
Bhavya Panigrahi would surely have taken, had he not just gone off. No problems there as Bilal took on the responsibility, and his no-frills take to the bottom left corner was hit too well for any goalkeeper to stop. That was four, and game.