Sin Expunged
No Slowing That Ze Han
Grilled Birds got off to a slow but still respectable start against Serangoon IV.37 representatives Sin_Mahi in the Singapore Cup, with what was largely their second string. Club captain
Chan Ze Han was only given half an hour to tune himself up, but even that was enough for him to collect two goals from open play, in preparation for their trip to Good Luck FC.
It would be a near full house at Mahi Throne, with Polish head coach Sławomir Bahowski presiding over some eight seasons of zero transfers - which has seen the club drop out of Division Three after four seasons of battling. Very unfortunately for Bahowski, his forward line has been stricken with a serious injury crisis, which has seen two of his top four unavailable for the game. 25 year-old Pole Mirosław Wienconek and 27 year-old Czech Vít Šedivec were basically automatic picks, then, and the match would end with their woes compounded in this regard.
The hosts' midfield left a lot to be desired compared to their still-formidable strikeforce, with Swiss oldie Luki Wernli and local veteran Mohan Peddireddy both having seen far better days - and Chen Lee Siong never quite of the level to anchor a team by himself. This might not be an especially impressive Grilled lineup, but from how
Enrique Baena sliced through all opposition on the right to feed
Chan Ze Han for the simplest of tap-ins in the eleventh minute, it was more than sufficient.
Mohd Hamzah Nazir would have been out of his depth defending the likes of Chan and Parada even were he not forty, but Grilled's second would come from a much lesser-ballyhooed combo, as
Atang Mangoye slid one through for
Gandhik Chitre to dink over Vinay Kothapalli - though it did cost Mangoye a slightly-tweaked left knee. No trouble in the end, however, and Baena would add a third while the Botswanian recuperated on the side of the pitch, hitting it hard and true with his good right foot.
The hosts' Mirosław Wienconek would not be that fortunate, as he strained the right hamstring that had already been bandaged up from last week's friendly against Quennstown, 32 minutes in. That he could not walk off under his own power was telling, and it would be a very grim Bahowski who ordered Lu An Seng on in his stead. Chan wasn't prepared to go easy on them despite their setback, though, and when
Ibnou Balde got it to him after dodging a tackle, it would be 4-0 without a second thought.
Had Vinay Kothapalli not been on his toes on the very next attack, five would be on the board with
Aw Keng Chuan spotting him marginally off his line, but the goalkeeper reacted immediately to the lobbed effort to tip it over. There was some rare booing from the Birds supporters at half-time, as the departure of Chan - on a hat-trick, mind - for
Mohsen El Khateeb was announced. However, given Wienconek's fate, they should perhaps not be too displeased at
Tian Yonghang for his caution.
Manuel Vadalà inherited the armband, and it was not like he would have much of anything to occupy himself for the second half, as Grilled upped their dominance if anything. They would admittedly miss Chan's clinical nature in their many scrimmages in the opposition box, with Aw first booting it into the side-netting from several yards out in the 51st minute, and
Hwang Teck Fu then pulling his effort across goal the next minute.
Federico Parada was watching out and kept it in expertly, however, before putting it back for Hwang to do the right thing this time - a debt to the winger that he made sure to acknowledge.
Enrique Baena was eager to add more to his name as he had Huang Leong Jin on the back foot for the remainder of the match, but he would come no closer than his sharp 54th minute drive, that Kothapalli barely warded aside. Otherwise, the Birds would slow down too, and
Bhavya Panigrahi's entrance for Mangoye five minutes from time would not shake them up.
