Point Of Law
Enrique Lien
In what might well be the Birds' stiffest remaining test for the season, they hosted league leaders Lawrence, KS FC at The Cooking Pot, and managed to take a point from them. Given that this was much the same setup that had smashed Mayuyu AKB48 4-0 three weeks ago, and considering LKS FC had strolled through the past two weeks against in-administration outfits, this had to be accounted as a great result for Grilled here.
With LKS FC having won nine and drawn just one of their ten matches thus far in the league, few dared bet on the Tanglin club slipping up today, which was reflected in the odds. Norwegian midfielder Frode Haugen was suspended after a yellow card against Ocean's 1q last Sunday, but Swiss defender Gino Revillard stepped into Haugen's crucial holding midfield role without much fuss. Grilled were unchanged, and were led out by a
Chan Ze Han chasing individual honours, having taken free-kick duties over from
Bhavya Panigrahi.
It would not be Chan's day, sadly, as the match soon developed into a slow and cautious undertaking. The visitors strove to control the pacing, and largely succeeded, with their own mission clearly being to grab one on the break, before sitting back. They would not take long to come up with a first big opportunity either, and a flurry of early probes largely launched by Siew Siong Feng, ended in a free-kick being awarded right on the edge of the box. Chilean forward Joaquin Leiva took a winding run-up, and wasn't too far away with his curler just over the crossbar.
Nothing much came off for the Birds despite the loud encouragement from the over fifty thousand fans that had arrived for the occasion, with LKS FC being especially familiar with stopping any and all moves up the middle - unsurprising, what with all the talent in their five-man defence. 18 year-old Lin Min Puay looked a bit out of place, but even then his potential was evident to the eye, as he filled in as best as he could, usually correctly.
The match was calling for something out of the box from Grilled, and
Aw Keng Chuan sparked something by finally sending it wide left to
Enrique Baena, who had admittedly been forced back pointlessly the last few times he received it on the touchline. This was different, however, with an excellent first touch skinning national fullback Imaduddin Ahmad for once, and Baena was then clear and free on that flank. He contemplated bringing it himself, before switching to a quick release for
Chan Ze Han, whose first-time take was unfortunately not his best.
LKS FC had stifled just about everything else the Birds could throw at them for the first half, but
Kalki Parvathaneni's entrance for Bilal after the break did at least shake them up a bit. Kalki's first act with the ball was to dribble straight at Chow Chun Jin, and although he got dispossessed eventually, that directness did force the opposition defence to collapse outside somewhat.
It was the visitors who got what they wanted first, as they counterattacked furiously down the middle, after a stiff tackle that had Aw down and calling for the foul. Italian referee Gian Maria Colacito wasn't interested, and Revillard had his pick of Leiva and Siew, as he raced up the middle. In the end, it would be a pinpoint through pass evading
Damian Hutter that reached Siew on the stroke of the 65th minute, which the pacy local put past
Dimitris Germanakos in turn.
There were no prizes for guessing that LKS FC were out to protect their lead by whatever means after this, but they hadn't counted on some long-awaited magic by
Enrique Baena. With little enough to lose, Tian had instructed his players to mix it up however they wanted after going behind, and thus it was that Baena found himself doubling up on Kento Tanaka together with Ferzan on the right. This combination proved extremely effective as Baena got his shot on, and Leocadio Angarita should frankly have done better there. One-all.
The remainder of the game threw up no surprises, with LKS FC refusing to try and force the issue, and the only highlight would be
Chia Kwang Tse's third yellow card of the season, given for getting too handsy once too often. That will see him unavailable against Mayuyu AKB48 next week, with the rest of his teammates seemingly happy enough with a draw here.
