Check By Queen
Phua Pickoff
Queenstown MZKs got another win off Grilled Birds as they just about managed victory in Clementi, with the weather throwing up undiluted sunshine for a change. It could really have gone either way with Queenstown head coach Diego Maestri not having made any significant transfers for a season, which resulted in an unchanged side from that which blitzed the Birds 5-2 last season. Adem Boğ, who got four in that slaughter, would captain his team out to much fanfare once more, and he would do the fans proud here.
With Federico Parada also gone,
Paulino Trindade would lay claim to left wing, as
Tian Yonghang's barebones squad more or less picked itself. Still, it would be a very vibrant start for them, with
Hwang Teck Fu lighting it up in midfield.
Chad Thach might have failed to get his header on target after
Aw Keng Chuan dropped a fourth minute free-kick at him, but Grilled kept chugging, and Hwang's sweeping pass out wide to Trindade would be reciprocated to
Lim An Keng, who fired past Romano Santirocchi with a disguised sidefooted shot.
The lead wouldn't last out the tenth minute as Tomáš Aron replied on the restart, though, with Soo Jie blowing past Trindade in a like-for-like movement. Combo M'Madi then did his part holding the ball up before Aron presented himself in the middle, and the Comoros forward came within a whisker of getting Queenstown ahead 19 minutes in. He seemed to have his ankle caught by
Dimitris Germanakos halfway through dribbling by the Birds goalie, but French referee Jérémy Boivent declined to give the penalty, after replaying the incident several times.
That cooled the hosts' ardour plenty, and they would try to build slowly with the Birds prioritizing possession in turn. The next half-hour or so went by without major incident, despite loud cheers for Adem Boğ whenever he got on the ball. If Grilled were expecting the Turkish hotshot to stay incognito due to his bandaged ribs, however, they would be mistaken.
Queenstown would gradually pick up the pace in the next half, with former national U-20 playmaker Amal Razin Abdul Rafi beginning to distinguish himself in midfield. Fifteen minutes would pass before the match absolutely exploded, and it would all start with a drop ball for Queenstown, after the game had been stopped for Hernán Fernández del Cerro to be looked at. Grilled might have regretted not contesting it, however, as it was slung long to Adem Boğ, who lost
Aw Keng Chuan with a slick turn to make it 2-1.
Grilled would aim for a response as Queenstown had given earlier, but appeared to have had it backfire on themselves, when
Chad Thach was yellow carded for hauling Tomáš Aron down, having carelessly lost the ball about ten yards outside his own box. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as Aron's quick free-kick was read by
Chia Kwang Tse, and
Lim An Keng would equalize as Grilled's front three ran at Queenstown's undermanned backline in concert.
That wouldn't last long either, and who could it be but Adem Boğ, to put his team ahead once more in a jiffy. Grilled should really have known better than to try and press their hosts so recklessly, and once
Brian Reddy missed his challenge on Kwek Ho Jie, it was open season on the left wing. Kwek prodded it one side then the other before finding Boğ, and the cheering had not even faded, when Phua Jing Wee made it four for Queenstown, on their next attack.
It would get hard for Grilled now, with Queenstown starting to sit back and while away the minutes purposefully, and the Birds would not have the pure striking instinct to make them sweat, once this happened. Grilled would get a lucky break when Gavin Rotenberg's unnecessary touch on Aw's hopeful long shot gave them a corner, and
Mohd Marzuki Khairul would put Queenstown within touch, after
Chia Kwang Tse's point-blank header was barely stopped by Santirocchi. That was as far as they got, sadly.
