Coming On Good
Keng Point
Grilled Birds would exorcise another boogeyman after Claseek, as they cracked a five-match winless streak against Villains F.C., whom they had last played in the S-League eleven seasons back. They would emerge as one of Singapore's premier club sides with four national titles since then, but as with the Birds then, their fall from grace would be steep, with relegation from the top flight three years ago followed by a further drop to Division Three recently.
Local head coach Wong Jian Yew would not skimp on bringing stars in after their initial drop, as he bought Spanish defender Carlos López Castro and Sri Lankan striking legend Kanagasabai Kumar in for a combined total of some S$34 million, while in the second division. Both would feature today together with former Lions midfielder Pang Soon Kian, but the years had not been too kind on them, with Grilled seizing a comfortable-enough victory.
Chia Kwang Tse would be the Birds' out-and-out forward today as
Tian Yonghang had the wingers tuck in, but
Mohd Marzuki Khairul would soon become Grilled's focal point on the left side of attack. A slow and tetchy beginning would throw up two goals either side of the 19th minute, with Villains first to make their mark through French veteran Pierre Laurent's measured romp up the middle, with
Chad Thach missing the cut-out barely.
Aw Keng Chuan stormed back straight from the restart, however, and had it back all square almost before the scoreboard had been updated.
The proceedings got only tighter and less mobile as the teams gained a renewed respect for each other after the exchange, with
Brian Reddy surprised by 39 year-old Wong Jian Yew's madcap dash after 26 minutes, leading to a yellow card for his instinctual - and bad - tackle. The punch-counterpunch pattern would continue with Timotej Klarič's dragging a grounder across goal in the 32nd minute followed by
Gandhik Chitre taking it down in the Villians box despite Brennen Loo's up-and-personal presence... only to overcook his lob against Zvjezdan Ražić.
Grilled Birds arguably had gotten into the better positions as the match progressed, though, with there being a clear fitness gap, especially on the wings.
Brian Reddy would take advantage of Wong's reluctance to track by drawing inside after 37 minutes, as Marzuki found him through a forest of legs from the other side of the penalty area. Castro slid in aggressively, but a light-footed Reddy stepped further to the inside, and directed a simple finish home for 2-1.
That would become three in the 50th minute, as
Chia Kwang Tse's tireless hassling of Villians' backs extracted its toll. All of Ng Leong Yau's considerable experience with the national side availed him not when
Hwang Teck Fu lunged in as support, and his desperate feint and pass towards Ražić was all too easily anticipated by Chia. The goalkeeper reset himself quickly enough upon recognizing the mistake, but that was not enough to stop Chia from burying it regardless.
Grilled were not about the get complacent yet, which was just as well, as Luis Mazo Santolalla came very close to making it 3-2 in the 75th minute, with a lightning-quick sprint up the right flank that belied his 38 years.
Ha Qicai could only keep up with the help of some discreet shirt-tugging, that referee Axel Gundersen thankfully missed. Before that,
Mohd Marzuki Khairul had connected with a stylish diving header in the 62nd, but that wasn't about to trouble Ražić without much pace on it.
Everyone had been saving something for the finish, as it turned out, but the Birds struck first through another
Aw Keng Chuan masterstrike 78 minutes in, as he called his own shot on a free-ranging Grilled advance. Villians got their own back three minutes later with captain Klarič outfoxing
Raúl Himadas, however, which left a huge hole for Pang Soon Kian to exploit - and score from.
Villians were not done yet, even if some of their players were clearly hauling themselves about with difficulty, and Santolalla would make another brave pull forward in the 84th minute. The Spaniard pulled several Grilled players to-and-fro with his dribbling at the head of the box, only to blast it way over under heavy pressure.
Hwang Teck Fu then tried to nick a fifth in added time, but did no better with his outrageous lob effort from thirty yards.