Chad Chad Chad
Thach Of A Master
Three days after chasing Glory Paradiso down for a 5-4 away win, Grilled Birds did it again - this time in the Ivory Coast with II.3 high-fliers Parrrots on the receiving end.
Chad Thach would be the architect with a glittering twenty minutes that few strikers will likely match through their careers, as he relished his hard-won stint at centre forward.
While the hosts are no longer able to catch Eymen CACA dedi in the title chase after a 1-3 loss to Paperwalls, they remain highly regarded after capturing the Consolante several years back, and have greatly benefited from the expertise of mother club Kangarooos - the former Israeli national champions. This season's star buy, Portuguese custodian Cristóvão Marcelino, would not make an appearance however, as Argentine backup Chris Voth held court. The Parrrots would put out a strong midfield for that, with national star Ali Goudié supporting Palestine target man Walid Rahmé.
The Birds' usual friendly lineup took to the field, with the exception of the injured
Cameron Law, which meant that
Louis Vara got a runout. Vara's lack of match fitness quickly became apparent as he nearly made a hash of a simple clearance against Goudié in the first few minutes, though, which hinted the Parrrots to test him whenever they could. Youm Tiemobly made the most of Bertrand Braconnier's swashbuckling run down the left in the fourteenth minute, for an early 30th birthday present.
Grilled were for once hard pressed to maintain possession, and they would actually get their best breaks from turnovers. One such came in the 31st minute when
Paulino Trindade counterpressed an overeager Braconnier, and hit a superb cross long to
Toma Tamiya, who found Chris Voth out with a raking header. Parrrots weren't half bad at spotting openings themselves, and after Voth tipped a
Lim An Keng snipe over for a corner in the 40th minute, they would score on the return ball with Moussa Koto converting a quick free-kick taken by the goalline, after Ismael Zouré was felled.
The next two minutes would see two more goals recorded, as the passionate Ivorian crowd got into the spirit of things. The drums were playing at twice the usual volume as they urged their team forward, and hardly wavered even if it was the on-form
Gandhik Chitre who equalised with a cracker of a drive that skipped over the stooping Voth. No problem, as local hero Olivier Lefebvre replied immediately with a sweet half-volley of his own.
That made 3-2 when referee Peter Hirsch blew for half-time, and the match would restart with a pair of new faces: Finnish playmaker Josu Vähä-Ettala took over from former New Zealand youth international Reece Swain, while
Toma Tamiya deferred to
Mohsen El Khateeb on Grilled's left flank. Truth be told, El Khateeb didn't look all that convincing as he misplaced a couple of simple passes to begin with, but he would grow into his role.
It was another Birds player who would take over the game, as
Chad Thach started to seriously stamp his class. Only some risky fifty-fifty challenges had prevented Thach from opening his account in the first half, and the Parrrots' defence would see their luck run out. Moussa Koto tried his level best to stay with the Grilled Number 22 as he burst inside after 57 minutes, but an exaggerated wag by Thach lost the defender completely, and all that was left was to roll it past Voth for three-all.
Thach was just getting started, as it turned out, although he would have to wait a bit as Parrrots held on to the ball in an effort to control the pace. This mostly worked until the 73rd minute, when
Mohd Marzuki Khairul released Thach on a snap pass with the opposition backline out of position thanks to
Chia Kwang Tse's convincing sprint across the box. There would be no stopping Thach once he got up to speed, and he would duly put Grilled ahead for the first time today, with an almost dismissive flick.
The referee would take some seconds to catch up with play, and when he arrived at the scene, he would book Eugène N'Diaye without hesitation for the winger's attempted high tackle on Thach - which thankfully did not connect, though not out of any restraint by N'Diaye. The home fans might have wished that it did, as
Chad Thach completed his hat-trick two minutes later, as the flustered Moussa Koto stood off him... which was all but an invitation to pull the trigger from ten yards.
Some of the local spectators would sportingly cheer Thach for his feat, given that this was a friendly demonstration after all. Of course, they would reserve the best for their own, and when Koto redeemed himself with a prodigious dash from the half-way line to get on the end of Rahmé's subtle lay-off, there would be a great roar that reverberated throughout the stadium.
Tian Yonghang held up the restart with his next substitute of
Radovan Jaška for
Damian Hutter, to some whistling from the stands. It did its job, granted, and the Birds rode out the win with
Teo Chuan Yong's slow march on for a rundown
Gandhik Chitre.