Not This Time
Idhlan Exalted
The Birds' Sapphire Challenger Cup defence came to an end against recent leaguemates Glory Paradiso today, as veteran Number Nine Idhlan Abdul Fattah found his eighth career hat-trick against a discouraged Grilled defence. They had not picked themselves up from that 0-5 hiding by Recre Onuba a couple of days back, or so it seemed, as they worked their 5-2-3 to its full potential against an uninspired Birds attack.
Gandhik Chitre and
Hwang Teck Fu would have their turn up top along with
Chia Kwang Tse, as Paradiso started their Argentine star signing Ramón Fox in midfield despite a minor foot concern. There appeared to be a late problem with rightback Ler Yun Qiang, and the 40 year-old former national defender would be replaced by Jose Andrés Escalante in the very first minute, after a few unsteady steps.
It would be a slow and careful approach with both sides only too familiar with each other, with Grilled recognizing just how dangerous Paradiso could be were they to overextend themselves. The first major exchange would be an inversion of sorts, as the Woodlanders rushed on Jacob Yamada's high-hanging cross from the left, which had Germanakos declining to come out. There would be slight panic as
Mohd Marzuki Khairul was thrown off the initial header, but the Birds would clear on the second attempt, and
Gandhik Chitre had his probing effort gathered by Ang Fu.
Normal service would be resumed by the 31st minute, which saw Grilled running out of patience, and slowly entrenching themselves in the opposition half.
Ha Qicai rammed a dipping strike after frenzied action on the left of goal, but Ang Fu parried, and Gilbert Chung scored handily from the resulting surge up the right. There would be a yellow card for Ong Yeng Eng two minutes later as
Chad Thach was fouled pressing up the other flank, but the ensuing pass over to
Chia Kwang Tse would be warded off by Paradiso's sheer numbers.
Being behind was a bad position to be against a Glory Paradiso team used to waiting their foes out, as the Birds found out upon resuming the initiative to start the second half. Hwang would do excellently against Timian Jacobsen as he drifted left to invite
Lim An Keng's pass, but Ang Fu blocked at point-blank, and Mah Lee Kim slid in perfectly to clip the rebound away from the lurking
Gandhik Chitre. No penalty was forthcoming despite the Grilled players' mass protests, and Paradiso upped their lead to two in the aftermath as
Ha Qicai chased Idhlan fruitlessly.
The Birds had to recognize that they were in serious trouble once Idhlan made it 3-0 barely three minutes later on a sustained Paradiso possession, that reminded the spectators that they were not just a one-trick-pony team. Grilled carried on as best as they could, and recovered some hope from
Chia Kwang Tse's precise header off the post in the 58th minute, from
Brian Reddy's sweeping cross.
Gandhik Chitre then tried and missed in the 69th, and Grilled were fortunate that Idhlan was off with his finish, as the monster goal kick got played on by Jacob Yamada.
Grilled managed to make a game of it somehow, as they kept a cool head despite there being only about twenty minutes remaining, and ran the ball about the perimeter of the Paradiso box. There were several possible openings as the Birds' forwards teased and the Paradiso defenders stood off, but Chitre and company would refuse to trust in the half-chances presented. Chia would finally spot Ong Yeng Eng off-balance for an instant as he dribbled towards him, and blazed past the defender to claim his brace - and put Grilled within a single goal.
Understandably, the match got a lot more tense with extra-time suddenly looking like a real possibility, and Paradiso would pull out all the stops in trying to burn time. Their saving grace appeared to arrive in the first minute of added time, as
Mohd Marzuki Khairul invoked hero mode with a direct run through the Paradiso defence... only to scoop it a yard wide. Paradiso won a free-kick after lumping the ball up as far as they could, and Idhlan Abdul Fattah then wrote his name on the scoreboard for a third time, with a messy but no less valid conversion.