Flames Flounder
No Chia No Problem
Despite playing most of today's match with ten men, Grilled Birds would come out 3-0 winners against the visiting Tampines Phoenix F.C., with the sun scorching The Cooking Pot in a change from the usual rainy weather. Whether this was welcome by the spectators was an open question, but it would not affect the result much with Tampines attempting the same defensive tack, to no real improvement.
Having been scored on four times last weekend despite having home advantage, it was all head coach Ng Yun Shi could do to get his team's spirits up for this one, but they would be handed a boost early on when
Chia Kwang Tse bullrushed Irwandy Zafir from behind, and knocked the youngster to the ground. Chia somehow felt that acceptable as he tried to continue play, but Ethiopian referee Daniel Mena Medelcho had other ideas, and sternly motioned for him to come closer, before showing Chia the first straight red of his career.
That was always a likely outcome given how flagrant the foul was, and
Tian Yonghang was for once in no mood to defend his own man, as he pointedly avoided eye contact with Chia as the latter shuffled off. Grilled had not been doing too well before that, to compound their troubles, with their only clear chance being a probing dribble by
Gústav Thoroddsen from the right side of the box, that ended with the star forward rattling the crossbar. Thoroddsen thus remains on but a single league goal for the season, in a massive turnaround from last year's record haul.
Poor as he was in putting it in the net, however, Thoroddsen's other qualities remained, and they would only be called upon more frequently as the Birds made to make up for their reduced numbers, with a higher tempo. A meandering run in the 38th minute did the trick at last, as it opened the centre for
Aw Keng Chuan's supporting dash from deep. Jerry Chu was the only defender left in any position to stop Aw, but the national prospect would pull Chu one way before getting past him on the other for 1-0.
The Phoenixes were not entirely helpless as they created a fine opportunity from the left three minutes later, but Israel Brown's pullback to Garrett Sim would be bravely blocked by
Ha Qicai. That flank was where most of the action was taking place, and
Brian Reddy's dynamism opened space for
Chad Thach to exploit in the 54th minute - and Thach's grounder across Daniel Lee would be inch-perfect.
Aw Keng Chuan was off at that with
Damian Hutter entering, as the visitors resolved to take more risks; a committed attack several minutes later saw Grilled's box packed with no fewer than four opposing players as Abd El Rahman Abd El Khalek paddled about trying to find an angle for a decisive pass, before finally shrugging and going for Germanakos's far top corner. It wasn't all that far away either, with the Grilled custodian looking very worried for an instant there!
Grilled's new-look front line has certainly changed how they operate, with the increased involvement of the midfielders - and even defenders - unmistakeable even to casual fans by now. Thus was it that
Mohd Marzuki Khairul butted up against a mass of bodies 67 minutes in with Thoroddsen once more running interference, which left
Ha Qicai to supply the added outlet coming around the back. That made it three, and would see Marzuki off next, with
Gandhik Chitre picking up where he left off.
No luck later on for the forwards either, with there being an electric spell starting from the 80th minute, which saw Lim Ah Keng fire hard from within a mob of players in the penalty area, only to graze the bar. Lee's quickly-taken goal kick saw Tampines win their second corner kick of the match, which went short to Salahuddin Wafiuddin and thence to Garrett Sim, who got his shot off promptly this time... but onto the post.
Hwang Teck Fu sent it down the right channel, and Reddy got the early cross in with the Phoenixes in disarray for once, but enough got back to prevent
Gústav Thoroddsen from having more time on his eventually-misplaced volley.