Poleaxed Offshore
Atang Mans Up
Grilled Birds picked themselves up quickly from the long-term loss of influential captain
Chan Ze Han, to smack IV.46 challengers Sentosa@Polska down, in the second round of the Singapore Cup. The affilate of Poland's Pedzaca lokomotywa might be happily sinking down roots in Sentosa, moreover with star million-dollar Polish midfield signing Radosław Ostaszewski establishing himself as their new skipper, but it might be some time before they become serious contenders for silverware here.
This is not to discount their earlier combativeness, though - for most of the first half, it was hardly a given that the Birds were going to get the job done here. A 22 year-old
Mohsen El Khateeb on his official full debut was hardly an adequate replacement for Chan, even if he did well to get in Dezyderiusz Dejko's way, to allow
Paulino Trindade a potshot in the sixth minute. That drifted disappointingly wide, but veteran defender
Atang Mangoye made up for it two minutes later, as the home defence forgot all about him following a cleared corner kick.
Sentosa@Polska were making up in raw spirit what they were perhaps lacking in expertise, and some great work on the overlap by an industrious Soh Leng Keong fed 19 year-old Tay Tang for the equalizer, in the 23rd minute. It was little wonder why Tay has been hailed as the future of his club, from his classy touch to pick the Grilled defence apart there, but the Birds were back ahead by the 33rd minute as
Gandhik Chitre split their backline in turn, despite
Egemen Dinçer Ferzan spending frequent spells on the sidelines to get his calf looked at.
The pace continued picking up, with the hosts actually pushing it the more, and Rahim Ladzim would dazzle
Enrique Baena on the left soon after Chitre's strike, but
Manuel Vadalà gambled correctly to cut the final pass out before it reached Dezyderiusz Dejko. The goalie only got it as far as Xie Choon Kiong some ten yards outside the penalty area, however, and the midfielder did well to compose himself, before calmly lobbing it into the now-unguarded net for 2-2.
Tian Yonghang could not hide his irritation at what had to be considered a poor showing from Grilled on defense, but his mood was then abruptly lifted as his team restored their lead.
Hwang Teck Fu understood well that the best form of defence was attacking for this team, and his aggressive dribble from kick-off gave Hud Mahmud no choice but to illegally restrain him while possible. The free-kick was given rather far out, but
Atang Mangoye dealt it nicely to the unattended Baena out wide, and
Orest Tokarz was free to shove it in, a couple of crisp one-touch passes later.
Despite his earlier calf trouble,
Egemen Dinçer Ferzan looked to have it all fixed up by the time he returned from the break, and would kick off Grilled's scoring in the second half with an uninterrupted brace. Both were highlight reel worthy, in fact, although his hanging mid-air kick in the 47th had to be the pick of the two. The smooth dash in the 68th wasn't half bad either, as he overran Ostaszewski quite convincingly in the process, despite the latter throwing all he had into his final tackle.
Sentosa@Polska's brave stand had all but broken down by now, although Ostaszewski did have a wonderful opening from Marian Kaczyński's improvised free-kick in the 72nd minute, only for
Damian Hutter to dispossess him before he could act.
Aw Keng Chuan had added a sixth by then, and the next two minutes would see Baena and then Mangoye run up the score, with Hud Mahmud hung out to dry each time. Benji Saechao would be shown the only card of the day for his late takedown of Mangoye on that last move, and by the time the Botswanian departed for
Gilbert Webb in the 85th minute, he could leave content in the knowledge that this had been one of his best days in the green shirt.
