Startgutta Wink Out
Fyhrstål Scheming
Norwegian Division Four representatives Startgutta were not wanting for tactical adaptation, with head coach Mats Fyhrstål parading a third formation in as many tournament games. Their inventive asymmetrical 3-4-3 appeared targeted towards stifling the threat of
Low Aik Jia down the left, while affording bodies against
Wong Ping Shun's crossing - which, unfortunately, lost some of its application with
Clément Meyer in for Low instead.
Requiring a result from this to continue on after losing their opener against MONKEY2000, Startgutta were obviously going to risk it for this one. William Kippersund had even been relieved of his captaincy responsibilities, leaving them to former Kyrgyzstani U-20 international defender Denis Nefedov, which the commentators speculated was to unshackle Kippersund completely.
As strategies went, Startgutta had one that was both bold and considered, but the fates would conspire against them. Wingback Håvard Austbø, who had evidently been preparing for Low, found Meyer's different strengths alien. Six minutes in, Austbø found himself bumped aside as Meyer chested a forward lob intelligently into space, and Ugandan goalie Ally Membe was then taken out by an awkward bounce on the grounder.
This had Fyhrstål hurriedly conferring with his skipper, and whatever was said, it almost worked as Moroccan striker Abdelwajid El-Fassi hit it up with Filip Malarczyk to work his way into a one-on-one against
Wong Tian Han. El-Fassi seemed to hold all the cards, but Wong managed to choose the right direction to dive in, and
Rashid bin Ahmad was on hand to hack it into the stands.
Startgutta were pressured into juggling the twin objections of not falling further behind and manufacturing an equaliser, the latter which however was made difficult by
Clément Meyer and
Gene Filippone's tag-teaming up on Kippersund. Ultimately, it would be
Hariharan Prabhu to put Grilled 2-0 up, after he followed in the wake of an advancing Birds front, and found himself presented with an open sight of goal.
It was a bitter blow for a Startgutta team that had worked their right flank so hard, and they began shifting their focus over to exciting German trequartista Tom Cori instead. Cori would find too few navy-shirted comrades in place whenever he wriggled free of Zhao or Prabhu, though, while Samar Azat Uulu would rush his only chance of the game straight at Wong.
The second half did not improve the situation for the Norwegians, given that they had been hustling from the first minute. Grilled's more deliberate tempo would set them in good stead as the Startgutta midfield tired, and the wily
Zhao Jing Wei seized his chance in the 60th minute to take on Filip Malarczyk. Malarczyk would recover the lost ground soon enough, but not before it was passed on to
Tian Yonghang, and thence into the net.
That was a combination borne out of a longstanding familiarity if ever there was one, and the Birds drew back having all but secured top spot.
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim was chill enough to shrug off his misreading of a Wong cross for once, but his fiery temper reasserted itself when he found himself upended by El-Fassi. A prompt yellow card for the young forward appeased Mohd Safri somewhat.
Low Aik Jia's introduction for
Clément Meyer was calculated to keep Startgutta honest, but it was ironic that their best hope for a consolation came soon after that. Low's overconfident dribble was read well by Kippersund, who immediately picked out Tom Cori, right in front of goal. The German instinctively swung at it when he had far more time than he thought, and would regret it a second later.
Moey Xin Seng then came on for Prabhu, and was introduced to the game by the business end of Cori's studs. To Moey's credit, he didn't make a fuss about it. That said, the teenager never quite looked like fitting in, but Grilled were cruising in any case.
Rinor Isufi added some gloss with a 79th minute potshot, and Low was lucky to stay on after wiping Austbø out with a reckless head-down charge.
