Light As A Feather
Chitre Divine
Grilled Birds would visit Nepal for the first time in their history, to be hosted by Division Four high-fliers, The Blue Feather FC. Their excellent performance thus far in IV.12 was predictable given their pedigree, being an affiliate of Czech second divisioners Liverpool FC est. 1892, and Danish head coach Sander Hove had laid out a good anti-Birds plan, with a 5-4-1 feeding the imposing Roshan Singh up top.
This, plus the thin air and nearly four thousand fanatics that had turned up, remained far from enough to stop Grilled's ambitious second-teamers, though they did make a good go of it for the first half. There would be a refreshing directness about both sides' play at the beginning, as the Feathers sought to move the ball upfield quickly whenever they had it too, amidst unrelenting pressure by Grilled.
Gandhik Chitre was out to make the most of his starting forward role, and clattered it off the right post skipping it off the turf in the eighth minute; not to be outdone, the Feathers' defence blasted it high down the middle, and Singh held
Radovan Jaška off well enough to answer with a boomer back off the crossbar.
That initial equal exchange done with, it became rather quieter for a bit as the Birds advanced more cautiously, even if it was impossible to hide their advantage in midfield. Dipendra Bal and Bibek Karki were willing runners for the hosts, but even they could not cover enough ground to stop Grilled from creating a steady flow of chances.
Chia Kwang Tse had a sneaky curler saved by Bikash Ghalan in the 24th, but it wouldn't be long before
Radovan Jaška got it in off a sweet free-kick, to put Grilled ahead.
It continued going the Birds' way as the Feathers struggled to get a grasp on the game, and they would have their goalkeeper to thank for limiting the damage to a single goal to half-time. Grilled skipper
Brian Reddy got the better of opposite number Nawayug Tamang quite a few times towards the end of the half, and it could have gotten very bad had young Polish fullback Gabriel Fitulak not been so helpful in filling the gaps. Still, Chitre got another great opportunity in the 43rd minute off Reddy's play into the centre, only for Ghalan to deflect it onto the woodwork again.
Chitre's dominance would have to be rewarded eventually, and thus it was that he struck a brace within seven minutes early in the next half. The Feathers had slacked a little on marking him after his earlier misses, and he would have them regret that in the 51st, as the nigh-unstoppable Reddy supplied the assist after twisting past Fitulak. That had Hove order his men to double up on the wing star, which however overlooked
Egemen Dinçer Ferzan on the other flank. He proved well capable of getting the ball inside too, and it was three once Chitre got solid contact on his volley from ten yards.
This was getting a bit too hot for Fitulak, who was mostly spent by the time he was replaced by Andorran Francés Xavier Blanchard, with twenty minutes left. This coincided with Chitre going for his hat-trick, and for once he would let himself down with a very poor finish that trickled tamely wide. That was the sign for Hove to spend his remaining subs after Tej Aryal likewise wasted the ensuing counter, and both Boris Jakaša and Bibek Karki were off. On came Vladimiro Rechichi and Sunil Paddle, with Nawayug Tamang becoming captain.
There were few initial hints that this was going to affect their fortunes on the field, with Jaška coming within inches of making it four, on another technically-unimpeachable free-kick effort. This would also however give the home team the opening that they had been waiting for, though, as Grilled had left too few personnel behind. Roshan Singh was through once
Mohsen El Khateeb lost his footing on a soft patch of grass, and he kept his nerve to slide it past
Cameron Law, to a united roar from the stands.
The Birds could hardly begrudge their hosts from claiming a consolation, surely, and Ferzan would not cut them any slack yet, as he challenged Rechichi aggressively before slinging an impressive attempt at the far post, only for Ghalan to turn it around the post at the last second.
Tian Yonghang looked content as he sent
Chan Ze Han and
Teo Chuan Yong on for Trindade and Aw in the last five minutes, in which little more of import happened.