Laying Them Down
Choy Redistribution
What a difference a week made, as Arcturules blasted Grilled Birds 7-1, from sharing the spoils in a 4-4 draw. Granted, the Birds definitely had an eye on the Sapphire Challenger Cup final looming on Wednesday, but it surely can't be said that a defeat by this margin would aid their self-belief.
Not too many introductions were required with the teams sticking to what they knew best formation-wise, but with Ching Lee Chee still out injured, player-coach Jouko Hyvärinen had to make a few adjustments. Want-away Choy Chee Da would start in attack alongside the returning Alf Stighult, with Maher El Bacha dropping back into midfield. For the Birds,
Gandhik Chitre's delayed recovery would have
Mohd Marzuki Khairul heading the attack,
Aw Keng Chuan moved into midfield, and
Damian Hutter starting at the back.
It was soon apparent that Hutter had a special assignment, as he would start tracking Hyvärinen whereever he went - a doubtful tactic on its own, it had to be said. This made more sense as
Tian Yonghang's full press went into effect, and it was soon clear that this visiting Birds side had unusual priorities: to keep Arcturules from playing, while also trying to expend as little of themselves as possible.
These contradictory impulses didn't do much for team performance, understandably, and Grilled would only nearly make it to the twentieth minute unscathed on them. Former Sri Lankan international Ray Jayatissa scooted in from the right wing then as
Chia Kwang Tse was wrongfooted by the abruptness of his change in direction, and
Ha Qicai couldn't catch him before he had clipped the ball beyond
Dimitris Germanakos.
Arcturules' goals would flow freely now, as Polish referee Ireneusz Komajda did his bit with a soft penalty call on Hutter three minutes later. Jouko Hyvärinen sent Germanakos the wrong way, before Choy Chee Da added two on canny late runs, by the 38th minute.
Brian Reddy would be riled into an incredible one-man dribble after that to reduce it to 1-4, as Klaus Dobschütz received a booking for his dangerous attempted takedown of the winger, after Komajda reviewed the video evidence.
Tian Yonghang did not look overly perturbed at all this, which suggested that the price remained worth it, for the Grilled head coach. Moreover, the pressing was actually not too bad for a team that had seldom practised it, and it would take some exceptional play from the hosts to get through it. Albanian national winger Gjelbërim Foniqi outrunning
Paulino Trindade in the 50th minute was one such occasion, and Foniqi then dropped it to Alf Stighult for the follow-up and finish.
The 65th minute saw Ognen Najdoski making the most of Choy Chee Da's distraction dash across the box for the sixth goal, as
Damian Hutter's mission to man-mark Hyvärinen started to look less and less well-conceived. That order would come to a natural end, however, as Hyvärinen recused himself five minutes later, for Tay Chao Hao to take over. That wouldn't stop Maher El Bacha from winging it into the top corner from over thirty yards, though!
The Arcturules fans were bouncing by now, as Grilled Birds continued with their drudgery, in contrast to the offensive endeavour that they had put on display last weekend. There could have been an eighth in added time as Alf Stighult popped up with a bullet header, but Germanakos got down quickly to prevent that at least.
