Hurricane Reaped
Toma At Home
Top Kanto club and Japanese II.1 favourites Sweet Hurricane would host Grilled Birds this morning, which made it a very special occasion for the Birds' 31 year-old Japanese utility man
Toma Tamiya, whose parents had emigrated to Singapore a couple of decades ago. This was made all the more memorable by his double by the end, and from open play at that.
While large segments of the Grilled support were still in uproar over the sudden sale of Gústav Thoroddsen, a few hundred faithful made it to Sweet Hurricane Arena anyhow, for a final crowd of close to 5600. The former The Emperor's Cup winners and three-time Nippon Emerald Challenger Cup holders marched out proudly in their home reds, and settled into a compact 5-4-1. Former Romanian international Sorin Brinda and ex-Japanese youth international Kazuma Fuchigami were the undisputed stars of this show on their end, with Brazilian Volnei Arantes backing them up in goal. 39 year-old Polish veteran Marcin Perliński would be their point man in the middle, with Croatian Number Nine Držislav Prinčić responsible for holding the ball up in attack.
On Grilled's end,
Mohd Marzuki Khairul would spearhead the attacking three alongside Chia and Hwang, with
Brian Reddy starting on the right after serving out his suspension.
Ha Qicai would not miss out on the chance to play either, as he captained the team out. As it was, the Hurricane selection would cede possession to their visitors only too willingly, and Marzuki's venomous volley in the 12th minute required Arantes to spring into action to keep the score level.
The Brazilian goalkeeper would need some attention after tweaking his right leg on that save, and it might have made all the difference as the Birds continued their deceptively straightforward approach. Few could have imagined that
Toma Tamiya would waltz right down the middle in the 19th minute, what with excellent options to his left and right, but Toma made the most of them to clear out the opposition with timely feints instead. One last faked shot had Sjunne Fransson turn his back far too soon, and Toma gleefully pulled it back, before slotting it past the exposed Arantes.
The hosts started to stand their ground more convincingly after that, and their shift to a more-zonal marking style had Grilled stumped for a period.
Lim An Keng tried to break the monotony with a surprise lob in the 35th, and the lack of a backlift did fool Arantes... but it went high in the end. Hurricane would score through a focused Prinčić when Sota Kikuchi broke with pace three minutes later, only for
Damian Hutter to reply at the first opportunity, as
Hwang Teck Fu roared straight back up the same flank.
Half-time had Hwang swap into midfield for
Gandhik Chitre as per normal practice, but it would be the Hurricanes to blitz the Birds for once. Perliński proved faster than he looked as he left
Aw Keng Chuan behind with a decisive pull forward, and from the free-kick, a sturdy Daisuke Ohashi held his own against
Lim An Keng to nod it behind himself, which had German captain Ralph Dembski bury it for 2-2.
Grilled were masters of the snappy reply today, however, and the resulting kick-off would again see them rush the Hurricanes' penalty area en masse.
Gandhik Chitre appeared destined for a dream finish as the home team's defence parted comically easily on his cut outside to the left, but the angle would eventually prove too much for him to overcome, as he dragged his final dribble out.
The disappointment would not last too long, happily, as Arantes' long goal kick would be collected by
Damian Hutter, and after a minute or so of drawing the Hurricanes forward by playing it between himself and Ha, Hutter would launch it across some fifty yards, with Marzuki cushioning it down with his chest just inside the opposing box.
Toma Tamiya knew a big chance in the making when he saw one, and Marzuki recognized it too, as he slipped it over with his heel for the assist.
Even the local fans could not be too riled up at one of their own coming good in this friendly, and Toma gamely tried for his hat-trick with ample support from his colleagues. He would bash it a couple of yards wide in the 59th minute, unfortunately, which was as far as he got; It thus fell for
Chia Kwang Tse to get the fourth goal, with Polish rightback Hipolit Praga overconfident in his ability to bring the ball up.
