Ambush 4 - 4 Grilled
A scorching day at
Hab Sukan Singapura, where 46801 spectators were in place for today's match.
Ueli Wolfmaier was the appointed referee with assistance provided by
Mark Syrjä and
Nicola Fichele. The weather was sunny, which meant perfect conditions for technical players in both teams. However, it was also quite warm, which meant quick or physically strong players were drained faster and couldn't play their best game. The following players had been chosen by Ambush:
Taqiuddin -
De Wai,
Su Yi -
Pham,
El Omda,
Kok Hui,
Jin,
Abdul Hakim -
Tai,
Qiang Ze,
Pham.
Grilled's lineup was:
Germanakos -
Himadas,
其材 (Qicai) -
Reddy,
Teck Fu,
Keng Chuan,
Kwang Tse,
Trindade -
Thach,
Khairul,
An Keng.
As the teams prepared to start the match, they both lined up in a 2-5-3 formation. Grilled clearly preferred using their divine (+7) (27) ability to attack in the middle. Central attacks were the recipe of the day for Grilled, as they moved the ball from the wings to the middle with startling regularity. Grilled took the lead 3 minutes into the game, making the score 0 - 1 after some elegant movement down the middle.
Mohd Marzuki Khairul was the scorer.
Mahmoud El Omda showed the skills that make him a real crowd pleaser as he, after 8 minutes, wove through the guests' entire central defence and put the 1 - 1 equaliser away. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave
Aw Keng Chuan from Grilled a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 16 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! Ambush took the lead 17 minutes into the game by 2 - 1, as
Yip Jin elegantly received a long range pass through the middle, finishing off with a half-volley shot just below the bar. With 18 minutes played,
Chad Thach of Grilled fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. After 21 minutes, a couple of quick and successful challenges followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area by
Liew Qiang Ze might have resulted in another goal for Ambush. However,
Dimitris Germanakos made a spectacular save. It was 2 - 1 at the break. Possession was split evenly between the teams.
Grilled levelled the score after 47 minutes to make it 2 - 2, as
Lim An Keng struck home after a fine midfield combination through the centre, which left him completely unmarked. 54 minutes into the match, Grilled nearly took the lead, as
Aw Keng Chuan broke through on the right.
Tajuddin Ridwan Taqiuddin made the save, however. At the 77 minute mark, it looked like the opportunity for Grilled to score had been missed until
Chad Thach suddenly worked his way clear and fired off a spectacular shot. The keeper had no chance! 2 - 3. With 79 minutes played, a quick exchange of passes on the left wing freed
Chia Kwang Tse of Grilled to slip through the defence and score another goal for the visitors. That made the score 2 - 4. Ambush didn't give in and with 80 minutes played
Wil 'Lobo' Tai was able to make the score 3 - 4 after an attack on the right. 89 minutes into the match, the referee signalled for a Grilled substitution.
Gandhik Chitre came on for
Chia Kwang Tse. The players were tired, but when the referee announced that there would be 2 minutes of added time they, nonetheless, welcomed the extra opportunity to make an impact. The crowd was on its feet 89 minutes into the match, as Ambush's
Taylor Pham found himself unmarked in front of the goal after a dash up the left side. He calmly put away the 4 - 4 equaliser. The match ends 4 - 4. Ambush enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 51 percent of possession.
The most dominating Ambush player was without a doubt
Liew Qiang Ze. On the other hand,
Mawardi Abdul Hakim's play was disheartening. Grilled's top performer was clearly
Chad Thach.
Dimitris Germanakos on the other hand, had a terrible day.