Fistful Of Gems
Kadak And Sid
Grilled Birds embarked on their quest for a three-peat with a straightforward 5-0 whopping of Division Five club EuropeGem. Four up and under no threat of being overtaken by half-time, the match cooled off significantly. The chilling rain might also have had something to do with the damping of spirits, though.
Jaan Kadak made good his word as he plundered his first Singapore Cup goal in double quick time. The Estonian was all over the place partnering
Ulf Hjortlind, and when van Liere's silky lobbed pass reached him, it was certain that he would capitalise. A heavily struck effort at the near post would be his first contribution for the Birds.
Ten minutes later, Kadak was well on his way to a debut hat-trick as he swung in from the opposite side to meet Rottman's low cross. A simple touch would have sufficed, but Kadak was not about to take any chances on the wet grass and threatened to burst the back netting with a mighty kick.
EuropeGem became even more determined to keep the scoreline respectable in front of the rain-depleted crowd, and their midfield began playing extremely deep. 29 year-old midfielder Seow Shan Yuan was obviously not a practised defender, as his botched tackle was hopelessly high and got Fredgård's knee. A yellow card for Seow, and a lengthy treatment for the new Swede defender.
Grilled found the time and space to experiment with their positions, and Sid of all people happened to be the one furthest upfield when Sim Wen Yeng's attempted header back to the goalie became stuck in the mud. Sid was happy to take it off his hands, and goalkeeper Mohd Atiq bin Puteh was still in two minds when Sid neatly passed the ball over the goalline.
Sid was on target again in the 27th minute, after he lined up to take the penalty given for an unfortunate handball after a slip in the penalty area. Possibly aware that the call might have been a tad unfair, Sid treated the spectators to one of his deceptive super-slow takes, that however remained enough to boost Grilled's lead to 4-0.
Conditions were so bad that the referee considered abandoning the match, but after a discussion with his assistants during the interval, decided not to. Grilled coach
Luis Alcántara was seen to gesture to his men to take things easy, reasonable considering the likelihood of unfortunate accidents on bad turf in low visibility.
EuropeGem's goalkeeper Mohd Atiq bin Puteh then pulled off probably the save of the game when he sprang up to deflect Rottman's rising header. It was a wonder especially as he would have been half-blinded by the rain, and from then on Grilled found it hard to string a decent series of passes together.
18 year-old
Bukhari Abd Hamid did shake off his anonymity late in the game by breaking through and lashing a twenty-metre rocket past a stunned Mohd Atiq. There was some excitement in the final few minutes as Grilled went for a sixth, and only massed defenders in the six-yard box kept Hjortlind from getting it.
