Cherry Not On Top
Barton Battered
Grenada IV.13 frontrunners Cherry Hill SC were on a nine-game winning streak in official competition, but from the outcome of today's friendly against the Birds, they might have some way to go. Given that the defending league champions are in but their third year, however, Spanish boss Crispiniano Navajas might take this in his stride.
Founded by the same management as Switzerland's Brasileiros Club de Futbol, Cherry Hill have been fairly conservative in their spending over the past season, with all three of their million-dollar buys having taken place before that. Of those, only Czech Number Nine Luboš Solich would feature today, and then only as an unplanned late substitute. In their absence, 21 year-old striker Darcus Wright was their focal point, with Argentine veteran Diego Alejandro Barclay working hard to keep the 5-2-3 together.
There was no hiding that this formation all but yielded the midfield to Grilled, obviously, and while this was hardly the Birds' optimal selection, it remained several tiers above what the hosts had on offer.
Phua Ming Xin would make his return after over a fortnight out due to injury, but the forward line would barely be called upon in a flying start;
Paulino Trindade banged
Federico Parada's long cross from the left across goal and in on the very first attack, and by four minutes later,
Lim An Keng and
Hwang Teck Fu had added to the tally.
All three goals owed a little to the modest goalkeeping experience of Pius Gant, it had to be said, with the 32 year-old Swiss actually a fullback by trade. Gant would do a good impression of a top-class goalie in the twelfth minute though, as
Radovan Jaška slung a free-kick over the wall, leaving the goalie to force it up and over. Cherry Hill defended grimly for a time after that, but
Lim An Keng slid onto
Aw Keng Chuan's through ball in the 25th minute for the fourth, and Aw would put it away himself the very next minute.
The three thousand or so home fans kept on putting up a brave face, and the Birds obliged by cooling it down a little from then onwards, instead engaging in a sprinkle of showboating till half-time. The break saw
Evandro La Face take over from
Ibnou Balde, and La Face would take only ten minutes to leave his mark, with a clever turn around the inside of Grigorakis Potiroulis after first feinting the other way.
It was then
Gandhik Chitre's turn to pour on the oil, and although he would not match his hat-trick from last week, he came close enough. Chitre had been methodically wearing Cherry Hill's centrebacks down over the course of the match with his frequent changes of pace and direction, and Noham Welkenbach just didn't have it in him to stick close enough, when Parada's cross fell towards Chitre in the 71st minute. The header was on, but Chitre went for the spectacular with a leaping scythe with his left foot, which thudded in off the turf.
Chitre was at it again on Grilled's next raid, with the otherwise-solid Nepali teenager Nissan Bholan finally making a questionable choice, in allowing Welkenbach's square pass to run instead of getting it under control when he had the chance. Chitre was onto it in a flash, and even predicted Bholan's reflexive sliding challenge. Having sidestepped that, it remained only to roll it past Gant, who wasn't even fazed by now.
With both Chitre and Lim now on hat-tricks, the Birds would redouble their efforts towards helping their completion, which was however stoutly opposed by the hosts. The 43 year-old
Gilbert Webb would make his first appearance in a year in coming on for
Mohsen El Khateeb with fifteen minutes remaining, which drew loud cheers from the small group of travelling fans who had made the trip. From how Webb huffed after making a few runs, however, there seems little prospect of him working his way back into the main rotation.
There would be a late push from the fitter Birds, as they sought to test the hosts' stamina, and
Paulino Trindade's freshness cut a sharp contrast to young Vietnamese leftback Nguyễn Cao Kỳ, who in his defence had been trying to push up his flank all day, if to little success. Trindade's precise curler would sadly be denied by Renzo Hermanus at the far post, but
Federico Parada would come good seven minutes on, as Hermanus' tendency to fall back cost him this time.
It was not quite over yet, but there would be an extension after hometown darling Joel Barton had to get his left ankle looked at, which had Luboš Solich take his place.
Tian Yonghang would answer with
Chan Ze Han on for
Gandhik Chitre, but there was no time for Chan to properly introduce himself, as referee Gabriel Cazacu stopped it short of the declared three extra minutes.
