Zeb Zap
Bastion No More
Woodlands III.16 defending champions Zebetta had fallen on hard times despite claiming their Division Three title, and after failing to promote to II.4 due to a 0-4 defeat by Crypto Moon, the former Singapore Sapphire Challenger Cup holders would come under administration, and have all their professional players released. Head coach Chiang Wan Siong would scrabble together a bunch of volunteers to take on the Birds in today's Cup game, and it ended as expected.
The outcome would be previewed after just three minutes, as
Orest Tokarz circled around his marker in synchrony with
Federico Parada notching the ball in from the left side. This left the final touch, which was of such quality that Kwek Chin Ze would not have been able to do anything about it, even if he had been Davide Tacchinardi. Zebetta then demonstrated great pride in a fiery rearguard action, and it was Grilled on the backfoot for awhile.
Mohd Marzuki Khairul was lucky to receive only a yellow card in the 16th minute when he gashed Fong Kok Chuan's thigh, which had the forward replaced by Leong Chi Chi.
Zebetta were still faring decently in the 4-4-2, and an equalizer was on the card when Leong sent an excellent effort skimming towards Grilled's goal on an unattended long ball, and
Dimitris Germanakos was lucky to watch it come off his post. The Greek goalie was quick to sling it across for
Brian Reddy to chase, and the counterattack was good; of the several Birds men jostling for position in the box,
Joe Reece would tip it home eventually with the side of his head.
That went quite some way to crushing the hosts' spirit, although they would hang on for another thirteen minutes, before the floodgates truly burst open. By the time the dust had settled,
Gústav Thoroddsen had achieved the rare feat of two goals in the same minute - the 36th, for the record - and Parada had embarassed Quah Chang Chin with a direct run for the fifth.
Joe Reece would not miss out, as he had it at 6-0 by half-time, courtesy of a terrific chip.
Zebetta's composure would be restored as Chiang pepped his men back up, and they would defend as if possessed for a time; Grilled would see Parada make a number of strong dribbles against Quah - who was clearly having trouble in this match-up - but the other defenders would clean up behind him. The Birds' fortunes would only change once
Evandro La Face entered for Tokarz, which had
Hwang Teck Fu score right after La Face entered on a throw-in, with the Spaniard taking only a minute to join in, as Mak Ming Han allowed the ball to slip across himself.
There would be a brief stoppage in the 74th minute as Lim Chun Cheng's old back injury reasserted itself, and the winger would be replaced by Ho Wan Wan after a short inspection.
Joe Reece would then be booked for a foul on the new entrant several minutes later, but the free-kick went badly for Zebetta, and
Brian Reddy capitalized. It went into double digits shortly thereafter, with
Chad Thach drilling it past Kwek from afar.