Basterd!
Hutt Done By
Geylang arrivals Basterd have been doing quite well in IV.49 as they start their first full season as a professional football club, but this was hardly sufficient to see them survive against the Birds in the Singapore Cup. Bulgarian record signing Yosif Batzarov would let seven goals by him at the Geylang Coop in this second round game, few of which were really his fault.
A 6-2 thrashing of third divisioners EEE1997 in the first round, and then a 5-0 cleanout of Jurong Octopus including a Adrián Albiñana double, had raised expectations amongst the Basterd fans - possibly to an unreasonable extent. The 19 year-old midfielder of the moment would not feature today, however, as Polish head coach Kazimierz Turaj leaned on local lads Radi Umar Kamil and Steven Pham instead, with Argentine teenager Adolfo Etchande making up their midfield three.
The departure of Joe Reece would see
Mohd Marzuki Khairul claiming the centre forward spot, but official positions mattered little as the Birds soon found themselves able to attack at will. 26 year-old
Damian Hutter, so often neglected in recent months, would find this a new lease on life, and he made full use of his newfound freedom by rushing the box in the fifth minute, just in time for
Brian Reddy to slide a diagonal pass towards him - which was one-nil.
The home fans retained a modicum of hope despite going behind early, but even that would fade soon enough as Grilled went four up before the twentieth minute.
Chad Thach dominated left wing despite Matija Rašić's best efforts, and the second goal would be his in the 15th minute following some fluid interchanges with
Chia Kwang Tse. Marzuki and
Aw Keng Chuan then killed any lingering hopes in a jiffy, as Batzarov found himself badly let down by his back three.
Sweeper Viraj Shah would try his best of impose some order, much of which involved curbing Marc Bauer's overconfident tendencies to try and take the ball up by himself. This would keep the Birds from getting too many gimmes for the rest of the first half, as their Liechtenstein captain Beat Blank did his part in holding up play whenever he could.
That was of course not going to turn the match around for the Basterds, and the 65th minute saw
Damian Hutter bag his second for the day, and only his seventeenth overall for the Birds from distance. There didn't seem too many good options as he surveyed the landscape about twenty-five yards out, what with the opposition having formed up in their own final third, and a strong whack with his right boot did the trick there.
It wasn't all roses for Grilled with
Aw Keng Chuan receiving the only yellow of the game 74 minutes in for colliding with Blank, but this only led into their sixth goal, as Hwang got on the end of Marzuki's rolled pass as the Basterds' free-kick was sent right back at them. Marzuki would then have a big chance blocked, which developed into the hosts' best shot at a consolation with Rašić dropping a pass right to Birger Elmose's shooting foot. The Danish youngster wasn't paying attention, unfortunately, to his enduring regret.
Chan Ze Han would get a run-out with ten minutes left as he replaced
Aw Keng Chuan, with Hutter's dreams of a hat-trick also dashed as he got subbed off for
Radovan Jaška. The restart would indeed see the Birds play themselves into a threatening position with
Lim An Keng advancing the ball at pace, and Marzuki would benefit as he nodded home from close up.
