Zarre Zapped
Boadi On Board
Ghana III.15 visitors BSG Zapfhahn Zarre took the lead against Grilled Birds in today's friendly contest, but that was as far as the Swiss spinoffs got, before getting caught up in Grilled's far superior midfield and control. While missing some of their top young stars such as Fares Gerard and Rendert Schreeuwer, it frankly didn't seem as if they would make the difference, even as the Birds started old workhorses such as
Teo Chuan Yong and
Bilal Mohammad Harun up top today.
Moey Xin Seng remained left out of the squad entirely as he nurses some particularly terrible form, while
Enrique Baena made it back from his week off, to ply the right wing. David Addo and Adofo Gyamfi took the game to the hosts in the first ten minutes or so, though, and their intensity would fare well against an overconfident Birds midfield desiring to advance. Still, it took a stroke of luck for Kobina Boadi to pass
Gilbert Webb in the 14th minute as the latter slipped halfway through turning, and
Manuel Vadalà was in no position to cover his goal effectively, having not expected that.
It took only two minutes for the Birds to make up for that mistake, and it would be
Enrique Baena to do the delivery, as he lifted it exactly where
Chia Kwang Tse hoped it would be, resulting in a crashing header low past Abraham Adea.
Gandhik Chitre would double up with some slippery dribbling from the left five minutes later, but it was Baena who was capturing the imagination about this period. The Spaniard completely fooled James Akwasi Kyere with a no-look clip forward mid-run in the 29th minute, but
Egemen Dinçer Ferzan wasn't ready either, and it was too late once he checked his own dash.
Boadi got a reaction from the few visiting fans here today, as he trapped the ball crisply in the 32nd minute, but this time the wet pitch worked against him as Webb closed in before he could shoot.
Paulino Trindade then strutted his stuff up the left, as he celebrated his recent 21st birthday with a cool finish after 35 minutes, before sliding it in for
Hwang Teck Fu to make it 4-1. It could even have been five had he gotten his lob straight after that several inches lower, but that might have been unfair to Adea there.
Chitre and Bilal were off for
Aw Keng Chuan and
Kalki Parvathaneni at half-time, but it continued to be Grilled's second-string wingmen who carried the day here. Baena and Trindade might have gotten slightly overlooked after the arrivals of Ferzan and then Parada, something that they were eager to set right whenever they could. Ferzan was only too happy to help as he sought out Baena's ambitious run in the 50th minute, and the latter stayed just onside as he rose above opposing skipper Kwabena Abrefa, to glance it just in.
Another one who has never stopped looking for a place in the league regular XI has been
Teo Chuan Yong, although with
Chan Ze Han basically undroppable, and three far younger and more mobile forwards now in the mix, his chances aren't looking too bright. Nonetheless, Teo put in the miles including taking one for the team in stopping Gyamfi on the verge of a dangerous counter in the 52nd minute, and robbing a defender on the edge of his own box in the 60th. Teo remained too good a striker to pass up that opportunity, and it was over once Adea took his bait, and allowed him to pass on the outside.
Trindade's attempt at chalking up another assist on the restart would come to nothing as Abrefa stood his ground well against Kalki on this move, as the Number Twenty showed clear signs of his advancing age. Why Moey had not gotten minutes recently was painfully obvious one he replaced Teo for the final few minutes, and
Chia Kwang Tse would barrel Grilled's final opportunity into the side netting, even as young referee Torben Köber checked his watch for full-time.
