Dirge Raised
Tigers Unready
If any Grilled fans were worrying about whether the Birds were ready to return to Division Two after six seasons out, today's league demolition of The Sing Tigers by the same scoreline as achieved against Zebetta on Wednesday, would have to calm plenty of nerves. Notably, the clubs' last meeting in the Singapore Cup seven years back had seen the Tigers rout Grilled 6-2, and of those involved,
Aw Keng Chuan,
Lim An Keng and
Chia Kwang Tse would be back for a second go.
On the other hand, that day's hat-trick star Mór Séllei had long since been retired, though Indonesian captain and former youth international Subarjo Dani was probably a more than able replacement. The visitors would be rather light otherwise, however, with only midfielders Yngve Vinnem and Constantin-Viorel Zorzoană likely to find a place in this Grilled matchday squad.
Evandro La Face for one was keen to make his mark, and the home stands erupted when he flashed past his marker in the box on the Birds' first real assault, to swing his shot past Mario Trombi in just the second minute.
English head coach Sean Starmer's defensive tactics sank much more swiftly than he likely expected, as the Tigers struggled with a lack of cohesion throughout. Unfortunately for them, this manifested itself in defence too, which would soon cost them dearly as they found no reliable way to play it out of their own half, other than hacking it out of play.
Chad Thach increased Grilled's lead to two in the 19th minute as he advanced together with Chia, with Subarjo Dani then receiving the only card of the game, as he elbowed
Ha Qicai trying to win a rare long ball out.
The rest of the half was
Brian Reddy's and Reddy's only, as he took over the game from the right wing, and recorded only his second career hat-trick at the age of thirty. La Face's oh-so-cool backheeled goal from
Orest Tokarz's unwitting assist from a corner would be rendered an afterthought, as Reddy began his rampage in the 35th minute with a great dribble inside. The 42nd and 44th minutes then saw the ex-U-20 star score too, as none in the Tigers' backline could read his movements at the crux each time.
Tokarz had time to shave the crossbar as first half stoppage time beckoned, and while there was an air of the Birds taking it easy on the restart, the howls of the crowd would soon spur them to resume their efforts. There was surely no way that
Gústav Thoroddsen would be sitting out of the scoreboard on a day like this, and sure enough, the Icelander would celebrate his recent maiden cap as he latched onto a fine Reddy assist in the 61st minute.
Indeed, all the respect paid to Thoroddsen was probably a big factor in why Grilled were racking up the goals, as defenders frequently found themselves pulled out of position by the Number 31, despite their better sense.
Evandro La Face would not wait to claim his hat-trick too, and after some minutes parked around the Tigers' box, Grilled found a way through via
Chad Thach flicking it blindly inside. The lob happened to fall perfectly for the Spaniard, and there would be nobody close to stop him as he easily picked out the far corner for 8-0.
La Face wasn't even done, as he plugged home a fourth goal the very next minute, with the Tigers' defence flagging - and
Chad Thach wasn't far behind in getting it to ten from a slick midfield passing combination, and this with fifteen full minutes remaining. It was something of a wonder that Thoroddsen and Aw didn't add to that, and frankly the home fans would probably not have begrudged Yngve Vinnem a consolation at this point.
