Out Of The Deep
Safety Achieved
The Birds confirmed another season in Division Three with their admittedly presupposed win today, which also sealed Ocean's 1q's relegation despite tpyers' defeat. Oceans head coach Zach Tsai could hardly have been expected to do any better given the hand that he had been dealt with the club's behind-the-scenes tumult, it had to be said, and there were few hard feelings as the visitors departed The Cooking Pot.
Ocean's 1q had thrown themselves a lifeline with their successive wins against Cloud Palace in the league, but given that those were their only victories throughout the entire season save a Challenger Cup result against Coffee Religion, they could hardly have expected to stay up. Grilled Birds had already gotten a 6-0 at their home ground in the second week, and little enough indicated any difference was in store today.
Right forward Jonny Wan would lead the Oceans out, but there had to be few expectations and even fewer illusions, as their 3-4-3 got compressed into an unmistakeably defensive blob almost immediately. The Birds' main concern was unmistakeably on feeding
Chan Ze Han, as they started one of their most-attacking lineups available, including both newly-capped youth internationals Chia and Thach in midfield, together with
Lim An Keng. They did have little enough covering to do, as
Enrique Baena shot the Birds into the lead in the 17th minute, with a well-executed half-volley at the right opportunity.
Grilled were definitely having fun now, but there would be a slight pall cast over the game, as
Moey Xin Seng's decline became difficult to hide. The 40 year-old would miss two sitters he would have absolutely buried in his prime - or even several seasons ago - due to a clear lack of pace. Oceans didn't escape unscathed, though, with Liu Pin Feng jarring his right knee in trying to stop the latter chance in the 26th minute. Eng Woon Xin stepped in, just in time for Moey to come good with a placed grounder past Jeff Lee; he might be a lot slower than before, but his accuracy has improved if anything!
The crowd were after Chan's Golden Boot chase before anything else, of course, but the man himself was entirely unperturbed in assisting
Bilal Mohammad Harun instead of taking the shot on himself at the next asking - which was objectively the correct decision, from how tightly he was marked. That was just Bilal's second in the league, which may see him demoted to the rotation soon enough.
Certainly, it is hard to see him as a legitimate option over someone like
Kalki Parvathaneni - who continues to tease glimpses of genuine threat despite his advanced age. Kalki would enter for Moey at half-time, with
Bhavya Panigrahi off for once early too. The defender appeared to have sustained something minor, and a few gestures exchanged with
Tian Yonghang, saw
Gilbert Webb make an appearance before his usual time.
The moment that the support had been waiting for would finally come after 67 minutes, as
Egemen Dinçer Ferzan shattered Oceans' defensive line down the left side, and put in a straightforward low ball that Chan could hardly have missed. Chan would be at it again four minutes later after a brief stoppage for youngster Maheswaran Shasthri to be lectured and booked, as he took Thong Tze Kuan on with verve, and dribbled past on the outside for the finish.
There would be no hat-trick unfortunately, as Chan waited too long after retrieving Baena's good effort in the 77th minute, and was reduced to swinging in a not-very-good cross.
Lim An Keng would get one four minutes later at least, as the Birds repeated history.
