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| FIXTURE HISTORY |
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| Season 86 | W | 5 - 0 | League | | Season 81 | W | 0 - 6 | Tournament (Playoffs) |
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Future Shadowed
Joe Brings The Cheer
With there remaining no official news on what punishment would be dealt to the Birds, the fans would have to endure another nigh-unbearable week, before enjoying a big 4-0 away victory against Shadow Chaser(R) SC. Whatever one might say about Grilled's financial maneuvering, it was at least clear that they had something good going on the pitch too!
Grilled would come out with an entirely unchanged squad and lineup from the previous week, with the club admitting that
Tian Yonghang had not been around to make any adjustments, having been detained for extended interrogation. The absence of Tian - and indeed, all of the senior coaches - had next to no effect on the players, happily, as they went about dismantling the free-spirited Chasers, as they had last month.
Joe Reece had scored two then, and history would repeat with him again recording one early and the other late; with Swedish veteran Thom Godling making a point to stick close to
Brian Reddy, the Birds would look to
Federico Parada somewhat more than usual, and the Bolivian would rise to the occasion. His Brazilian opposite number Marcelinho Auriani was a less than enthusiastic defender, as was shown when he allowed Parada past him in the twelfth minute, which resulted in a pinpoint cross to Reece - and the usual outcome.
Polish custodian Julian Pilichiewicz had a right go at Auriani for that, which had his defence tighten up for a time. Still, Parada would not be wanting for space on the left, and as for the Chasers, they would have to wait until the 34th minute before progressing into Grilled's penalty area proper, not that Li Jie Meng could escape
Ha Qicai even then. The reprisal was vicious with
Chad Thach making it 2-0 as Reddy exploded on the right, and the home team had not recovered before
Mohd Marzuki Khairul was left with the ball at the head of their box, visibly considered his options, and elected to skip a grounder in off the far post.
There would nearly be a combination between Grilled's hallowed wing duo next, as
Federico Parada hit a long, flat cross right as
Brian Reddy burst his lungs on a run inside, but the angle was ultimately too narrow for his intended dream finish. That did not go well for
Phua Ming Xin, as it turned out, as the hardworking Number Nine stretched his right leg too far in trying for the conversion. He would wind up clutching his thigh in evident pain on returning to the ground, which required
Chan Ze Han to step back in.
Chan would be joined by
Chia Kwang Tse as acting head coach
Aw Keng Chuan kept to the script, though it had to be said that his tactical nous would not be particularly tested, with the Birds breezing to three points thus far. It would get more exciting in the second half as the Chasers made their move, and Grilled Birds would have
Dimitris Germanakos to thank, as he made excellent stops off goal-worthy strikes from Azmil Rida Mohammad Hazim and then Florin Tarara.
Tarara's volley in the 73rd minute turned out to be the best that they had to offer, and by the time
Ha Qicai was replaced by
Damian Hutter with two minutes remaining, it was pretty obvious that Grilled had this one safely tucked away.
Joe Reece wasn't finished yet, what with a possible Golden Boot on the line, and he would claim his eleventh league goal of the season in injury time after Parada's powerful strike came off Pilichiewicz.
