Simply Done
Six It Is
The Birds would not let their shutout by Arrogancae keep them down, as they busted out a 6-1 result against II.3 club Sim(TM), in the third round of the Singapore Cup. There would be a lesser-seen partnership up front as
Lim An Keng and
Mohd Marzuki Khairul joined
Phua Ming Xin, but this did not detract from its effectiveness, though it would be
Hwang Teck Fu to come up with the goods from further back.
This surprise lineup would lead to much whispering from the Grilled fans at Love Street Stadium, which did dissipate as the Sims XI was introduced in turn - German midfield general Raffael Webers was certainly the pick of the lot, and together with Rémi Cagnon and Hüseyin Sunal, they had the raw quality to contest Grilled's central trio. The pickings were poorer elsewhere, however, and once
Aw Keng Chuan demonstrated that he could keeo them quiet, there was little that the Sims could do.
Eager to make up for Sunday's humiliation, this Grilled team would push the pace faster than usual, which caused difficulties for their opponents straightaway. The 22 seasons since the sides' last meeting had not changed the balance of strength much, or so it seemed, as the Birds soon pressed steadily towards the Sims' box.
Hwang Teck Fu was the recepient of a stellar through pass by
Damian Hutter in the twelfth minute, and he let it bounce before whipping it into the roof of the net.
The superb finish visibly deflated Sim(TM), and two more goals in quick succession would put paid to this fixture as a contest;
Gandhik Chitre sent lanky Joseph Chung sprawling the wrong way with his twinkle toes to put it past Yap Wee Chee in the 17th minute, immediately followed by Hutter's own close-up knock-in from a free-kick the next minute. Sim(TM) then had the biggest chance of the match thus far as Safri Rahmat whacked it for all he was worth in the 24th, but it clattered off the underside of the bar, and
Ha Qicai would not tarry with his clearance to touch.
It would be back to the Birds after that short interlude, as Webers' invention waned.
Brian Reddy baited Sims skipper Yannick Rambach before beating him cleanly in a footrace, but his grounder scraped off the outside of the far post.
Phua Ming Xin would make it 4-0 two minutes later anyway, but the match would take a decisive turn, as Fabrizzio Allijns wiped
Dimitris Germanakos out with an aggressive all-in header.
Manuel Vadalà came on for Germanakos, and his second act would be to collect the ball from his own net, as Rémi Cagnon chose this moment to conjure up a perfect chip.
4-1 at half-time was well good enough for
Tian Yonghang all considered, and Sim(TM) would start brightly against a complacent Birds side. Lothar Weißbarth had the entire right wing laid out before him as
Federico Parada overconfidently ran into a blind alley, but while he picked Webers out, the German star flattered to deceive. Vadalà would collect and take his time with the goal kick, and after a missed defensive header, Hwang completed his brace after being set loose by Phua.
Referee Oliver Hardy would then book Weißbarth during Grilled's celebration, after the winger took his linesman to task, for allegedly missing an off-the-ball foul by
Mohd Marzuki Khairul on himself. The distracted Sims team were not prepared for the Birds' collective pushes next, and Parada would have his time in the sun as he scorched all comers in the 59th minute. The cross wasn't half bad either, and
Phua Ming Xin didn't have to work too hard, to grab the sixth goal.
