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| FIXTURE HISTORY |
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| Season 88 | L | 6 - 5 | League | | Season 85 | W | 6 - 5 | Tournament (Group Phase) | | Season 79 | L | 2 - 7 | Qualification | | Season 74 | W | 4 - 1 | League | | Season 74 | W | 3 - 7 | League |
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Joke Reversal
From The Other Wing
The Birds paid Joker 9 for their loss earlier in the season, on a day that marked multiple milestones for the squad. Goalkeeper
Dimitris Germanakos would record his century league start,
Chia Kwang Tse his fiftieth in the league, while
Ha Qicai and
Gandhik Chitre got to fifty competitive ones. Chitre would also fittingly celebrate the occasion with a goal filling in for the suspended
Brian Reddy, but it was
Federico Parada who truly powered the Birds to their 6-4 victory.
The promise of another high-scoring banger had attracted over sixty-three thousand paying spectators to The Cooking Pot, and they could hardly be disappointed at what would be on show. 19 year-old Vikas Satishchandra and Tay Fu Yew, who had collected hat-tricks before, were back and eager to go, with the underscoring Chan Jian Jian moving well recently. Former national youth star Vinay Kommareddy would remain on the bench nursing a hamstring pull, however, as Grilled put out their usual league eleven barring
Brian Reddy.
Reddy's absence didn't slow the Birds much if at all, with Chitre providing a refreshing alternative with his more-deliberate style, which had Aldis Cildermanis over-react at times. An early incursion from the right by Chitre saw him tee
Chia Kwang Tse up for a rocket into the crossbar, which led into
Chad Thach's blast past Jens-Harald Schimmelpfennig six minutes later in the 18th minute.
Federico Parada followed that assist up with his own goal straight from the botched kick-off, as the Jokers let their guard down.
Joker 9 boss Dane Kim was furious at that second lapse, and a torrent of invective would have his charges operating with much more caution - and ambition. Vibhav Singh would display his considerable passing range as the visitors eased into their offensives, and Portuguese centreback Avelino Franco found himself in a great position to shoot, after nearly a full minute of possession with intent.
Dimitris Germanakos made to close the angle far too late, and Franco made it 2-1 in the 25th.
Grilled remained by far the more productive overall on their own ground, however, and the Jokers' inconsistency on the ball would prove to be their downfall.
Chia Kwang Tse wasted no time in bringing the ball up by himself after a very loose sideways pass from Satishchandra, and
Gústav Thoroddsen pulled off a neat no-look ping to
Mohd Marzuki Khairul that made the finish a formality. The Jokers were again shaken by conceding, and
Gandhik Chitre seized on that uncertainty, rushing together with the forward line and mopping Schimmelpfennig's initial block up.
That was 4-1 for the Birds at half-time, and made for some pretty pleased supporters in the stands. Grilled would not sit on their laurels afterwards either, and Marzuki's efforts to win a header against Ang Yi Da despite his inferior position, would earn him much sympathy after suffering a hard knock to his head. The resulting free-kick would be taken long and straight into the Jokers' box, and had
Federico Parada stoop in mid-air for a beautiful reverse header into the net.
Few could expect Joker 9 to overturn a four-goal disadvantage at this point, but as it turned out, they might actually be a better unit with nothing left to lose. Some relaxed play had several of the Grilled players look somewhat silly in trying to anticipate their actions, and there would be exceptional individual qualities to draw upon too, as in the 65th minute when Chan Jian Jian made
Ha Qicai look like an absolute slowpoke, with his unnatural acceleration from a standing start. The finish wasn't half-bad either, and it was 5-2.
There was nearly another twofer for Grilled in the 67th minute after
Hwang Teck Fu's confident dribble and scoop around Schimmelpfennig, as the Birds went for third time lucky, but had
Aw Keng Chuan's accurate if telegraphed long shot stopped by the German goalkeeper. Not only that, Schimmelpfennig's monster throw out caught Mario Schumpbach off and running, and the return cross was perfect for a soaring Hans-Ulrich Rehn, who hung a torso higher than
Gandhik Chitre in polishing off an equally great header.
That gave the Jokers about twenty minutes to find three more goals to tie it, and they managed just the one, from Tay Fu Yew in the 77th minute after a canny lob with
Dimitris Germanakos a step slow in retreating. This also made another outing without return for
Gústav Thoroddsen, who didn't look too happy after being booked for trying to bulldoze Franco off the ball, a couple of minutes later.
Paulino Trindade and
Chan Ze Han would get late appearances, as
Tian Yonghang ran the final seconds out.
