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| FIXTURE HISTORY |
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| Season 89 | W | 8 - 4 | League | | Season 88 | W | 6 - 4 | League | | Season 88 | L | 6 - 5 | League | | Season 85 | W | 6 - 5 | Tournament (Group Phase) | | Season 79 | L | 2 - 7 | Qualification |
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Joke On Us
Lucky Nine
The Birds are now positioned precariously just over the drop zone after being outlasted by Joker 9 at Aljunied Bridge, with their energy levels severely depleted by the midweek exertions.
Lim An Keng looked to have set Grilled on a winning path, as the Birds threatened a near-repeat of the 8-4 extravaganza at The Cooking Pot, but it would be the Jokers who came out on the winning side with Tay Fu Yew firing on all cylinders.
Goals were always on the menu with most bookmakers' over-under at even odds being about seven goals, and the teams would once again exceed expectations. There would be no changes to the starting lineup that had come out in Jurong for Joker 9 boss Dane Kim, while
Tian Yonghang rewarded
Mohd Marzuki Khairul's cup exploits with a promotion to right forward.
Hong Kang Leong would also appear beside
Ha Qicai in defence, as
Aw Keng Chuan was bumped forward as a defensive midfielder.
Alas, the age of Grilled's backline would soon show, as the opening goal materialized in the fourth minute. Hong's stature might have been one of his calling cards since his emergence, but his legs had evidently lost some of their spring, as evidenced from his not quite measuring up to the younger Hans-Ulrich Rehn's leap, as Mario Schumpbach's dipping cross came in. Rehn would get the barest of contact with his glancing header, which was however enough to send it off the foot of the post and home.
Grilled Birds were not unduly perturbed at falling behind, given the history of his fixture, and they would endeavour to create for themselves, largely through
Brian Reddy on the right. Jokers captain Ariel Maceiras was a more than competent defender, but even he could not keep up with the slippery Reddy forever, and a neat cut to the outside would gain the winger enough space to feed
Lim An Keng for another headed finish. Reddy would then himself get on the end of a prospective assist from
Paulino Trindade from the other flank, but it reached him at an awkward height, and his last-second attempted volley simply sent the ball into the stratosphere.
It was getting to be a right struggle, and Grilled took the lead next, after some excellent team defending by Ha and Hong that shut Chan Jian Jian out of the box. Avelino Franco planned to shepherd what looked like an overhit through ball behind, but didn't count on
Gandhik Chitre's workrate, and it got scrambled back into play for
Lim An Keng's follow-up. The half would end 2-2, however, as the Birds then committed too many people forward for Trindade's push up the left, and were run over by Mario Schumpbach on the counter.
This remained anybody's game, as the commentators gleefully suggested right before the restart, but there would soon be indications that it would be Joker 9's day. Hans-Ulrich Rehn's highlight reel-worthy strike in the 52nd minute slicing past
Ha Qicai from the right had to be a pretty obvious hint on hindsight, as was Grilled's increasingly-messy tackling form.
Mohd Marzuki Khairul was never the cleanest going in on opponents, and he was fortunate to stay on after clipping goalkeeper Jens-Harald Schimmelpfennig's ankle.
The Birds were unable to take advantage of his replacement Chong Yao Feng, sadly, as Joker 9 suddenly stepped up their own aggressiveness. What followed was maybe the finest twenty minutes that they had put on show at their own stadium all season, which left their visitors gasping for air towards the end. Former youth star Tay Fu Yew was the architect here, as he showed just why he has oft been raised as the Lions' future in attack, as he sliced Grilled's ageing defensive line to bits. A timely poach in the 73rd led into a big header three minutes later, as his volume of movement was just too much for
Hong Kang Leong to suppress.
A sixth goal would come for the Jokers 84 minutes in, with Hans-Ulrich Rehn turning supplier against a slowing
Brian Reddy on their left wing. Grilled's formation was by now a mess, and Ang Yi Da was able to watch Rehn's cross come to him unopposed, winding up for a flat volley past the stretching
Dimitris Germanakos. Tian went ahead with his triple substitution despite the match being clearly lost anyway, after
Paulino Trindade had added another consolation with a cautious Aldis Cildermanis letting him through.
