A Senior's Joy
En-chan-ting As Ever
Chan Ze Han's left calf might still be in a pressure wrap, but the 37 year-old would nevertheless wield it like a magic wand, as he displayed no signs of losing his shine with a hat-trick against Polish H.A.L VI.109 hosts Cieciora Jubileusz. To be fair, Jubileusz's level was not especially high as of now, with Albanian skipper Dition Qerreti a stolid if not-very-flexible presence at the back, and hometown darling Bolesław Gatlik the undisputed star of today's squad, given that the likes of Lévy Bleuzet and Marek Piotrowiak were not present.
Grilled were understaffed too with
Lim An Keng failing a late fitness test and thus missing the flight out, leaving a 40 year-old
Bilal Mohammad Harun to reprise a midfield role.
Paulino Trindade would start on the left, with goalkeeper
Manuel Vadalà entrusted with the armband for the day. It would not be the best of starts for him, alas, as youngster Mariusz Niewielski - on just his third professional start - crossed to 18 year-old Romuald Kuśnierewicz in the fifth minute, who produced an entirely unstoppable dipping header in off the far post. Nothing that Vadalà could do about that!
It was also perhaps the first sort-of-chance that the hosts had cobbled together, and the imbalance in midfield power would soon assert himself, despite some busy tracking-back from Jubileusz. Trindade sprinted past Niewielski to get it to Chan right in front of goal in the 13th minute, and one understands how that generally goes. Another ten minutes later, there would be more wizardry down the left, and this time it would be
Mohsen El Khateeb to find himself unattended. 2-1.
Atang Mangoye then became the next player to be stricken with injury, as he went down after landing heavily on his left leg, in the 28th minute. The Grilled medics would quickly judge that Mangoye was in no position to continue, and the game resumed with
Radovan Jaška in his place. It wouldn't be too long before Chan got another close-range finish with a smart drive sidewards at the final second, and it was only Emil Kus' equally-quick thinking that kept Chan from converting a rebound in the 37th minute. There was nothing doing when
Aw Keng Chuan unleashed from the edge of the box next, however, especially given a tiny deflection.
Things were getting slightly desperate for the home team here, and forward Albert Pich would be caught up in a frentic rearguard action the next minute, which had him booked for trying to delay a free-kick. It didn't help his cause either as
Hwang Teck Fu nicked it to
Chan Ze Han at the first opportunity with the Jubileusz backline ironically still unready, which was Chan's hat-trick.
The handful of Birds supporters who had made the trip could not deny their hero a standing ovation at his latest feat as the teams went off for half-time, which the man gamely reciprocated with applause of his own. Jubileusz were not done themselves either, and two minutes into the new half, Julian Łajczak would bypass a subdued
Federico Parada to open up the left side, resulting in Dition Qerreti scuttling it in from point blank range. Certainly, they might have wished that football were just five minutes a half!
The hour mark had
Paulino Trindade off for
Egemen Dinçer Ferzan, coincidentally reversing their positions in league play, as the Birds continued overloading that flank happily enough.
Hwang Teck Fu had been an especially ardent supporter, and got his just rewards in the 70th minute, when he found himself as the extra man after a confident thrust down that side. Emil Kus set himself well, but Hwang found the far corner with a gracefully curling effort.
There would be a surprise return for 42 year-old club elder
Moey Xin Seng, as he took over from Chan with fifteen minutes left, triggering another round of cheering from the visiting stands. Sadly, it would soon be only too clear that Moey's mobility and skills had been greatly reduced. This would not prevent the Birds from adding two final goals, though, as
Gandhik Chitre outdribbled Romuald Kuśnierewicz handily in the 78th minute to get his shot off, before Hwang topped it all off with a breakthrough on the right.
