Branch Prevail
A First For Benfleet
There had been four previous meetings between Grilled Birds and Benfleet Branch, and the latter would finally get their first win, nine seasons after both had graced II.4. A 40 year-old Svenne Stengaard would be their lone holdover from the latest clash, a 5-0 in favour of the Birds, but the Holland club would finally come good at their Woodside Park, with Slovenian striker Francis Dernič owning an unprepossessing Birds defence.
Having somehow conceded a walkover to Claseek in the previous round of the Singapore Cup, it seemed that Benfleet had considered another run at the Ruby Challenger Cup to be a more realistic target - given their prior success in the competition - what with their league commitments in III.8 following promotion. The Birds would lead with their usual alternate starting lineup, if with Moey and Kalki again up top together with
Chan Ze Han.
It was the navy-clad Dernič that eclipsed them all, though, as the new signing got it past
Manuel Vadalà in just the second minute, fresh off a brace against Jurong West Zaidan Football Club on Sunday. Having racked up 147 goals in just over 200 appearances for his local FC Brje, the 31 year-old Dernič had moved for a new challenge, and from his movements Benfleet have got a right bargain for their S$4 million.
The VAR check revealed nothing doing with Damien Hutter's complaints about possible interference from Jeroen van der Pol, and the energized home crowd would press their heroes on. Grilled's midfield would shade the possession statistic, but it was evident even to the untrained eye that it was the hosts who were causing the more worry when they had the ball. Van der Pol was sparkling in particular, and fed Amrie Da'im for a second in the 24th, swiftly followed by Igor Gavril's magnificent volley as the Birds' organization crumbled.
This was heading towards a total rout, and
Chan Ze Han knew he had to took charge, which he did by inviting a tackle from Stengaard the next time he was in Benfleet's box. The veteran should have known what Chan was looking for, given his experience, but could not resist sticking a leg out as Chan teased to his right.
Moey Xin Seng would go up for the penalty after a short discussion, and he waited for young Emmanuel Hedolingbe to make his move, before calmly stroking it the other way.
That would be but a brief recovery for the visitors, as Benfleet went back to their rampaging ways, missing nary a beat. They had not even worked the wings much in scoring their first three goals, but would slowly reveal that side of their game. 19 year-old trainee Biju Dabholkar twisted and turned against the similarly-aged
Hwang Teck Fu in the 32nd minute, before breaking clear with a well-timed poke forward. Dernič was waiting for the cross, and nodded it in off the ground, with Vadalà a statue.
Tian Yonghang would have to recognize a likely lost cause as his charges trooped off with shoulders drooped for half-time, but the lifting of pressure seemed only to benefit his young side for the second half. Grilled had barely created anything from open play before, but they were beginning to get it into the opposing penalty area with some consistency, as Benfleet began to play more conservatively.
Chan Ze Han got on the end of a
Paulino Trindade center after some excellent work down the left, but got crowded out eventually by Benfleet captain Jérémy Gaspar.
Moey Xin Seng's declining stamina had been becoming more and more obvious, and it was not surprising that he was replaced by
Teo Chuan Yong in the 60th minute, which followed
Chad Thach's replacement of Chia at the restart.
Bilal Mohammad Harun would come on for
Kalki Parvathaneni at the same time despite Kalki having more in the tank - but these two would soon turn out to be great tactical substitutions on the part of Tian.
Bilal had never been known as one of Grilled's better striking options, but he posed a perhaps unmatched threat from the head of the box - which would force Benfleet to commit more bodies in that area. That didn't even stop Bilal from whizzing one inches wide in the 76th minute, and probably indirectly contributed to
Teo Chuan Yong making it 4-2 in the 82nd, when he ran onto a disguised pass from
Mohd Marzuki Khairul with Bilal beckoning.
The real tension would come two minutes on, when
Chan Ze Han did what he had done so often through his Grilled career, in conjuring a goal out of essentially nothing. Having been stopped with his back to goal as Benfleet packed their box, Chan would feint to the outside, make a short dash, and catch Hedolingbe with a perfectly-weighted lob, just as the goalie made his move. That was as far as Grilled got, sadly, as their travelling fans protested referee Juan Ponce Enríquez's allocating only a single added minute to the game.
