Aljunied Electric
Tejas Twofer
Dahan Bok's competitive debut would not be a happy one, as the Japanese third-choice goalkeeper let four past him in a 2-4 away defeat to Joker 9. Uruguay player-coach Ariel Maceiras had not made any changes to the squad for the five weeks he had been in charge, but this stability would be a source of strength too, as the Jokers rode their familiarity with each other to a solid victory.
Maceiras had however reverted to a 3-5-2 from the 2-5-3 that Joker 9 had tried in the sides' latest meeting before today - probably forced in part by Tay Fu Yew's injury - which had Portuguese sweeper Avelino Franco return. Tejas Gopalakrishnan, who bore the brunt of criticism for that result after his dismissal in the 22nd minute, would be restored to left forward, where he did not take long to reaffirm his value to the team.
It would be Grilled Birds to ask the first few questions for all that, as the hosts declined to impose themselves, and a momentary lapse by Franco would see
Gandhik Chitre rustle the ball off him... and clip it past Jens-Harald Schimmelpfennig. German referee Felix Ellebracht waved off appeals from the Joker set that Chitre had made too much contact there, and it was down to Gopalakrishnan to claim recompense for his team.
Raúl Himadas seemed well-placed to divert the striker's rush in the 25th minute, but it turned out that Gopalakrishnan had one last gear to shift, and that Dahan's shot-stopping left something to be desired.
This certainly wasn't great for the Birds' morale defensively, and Joker 9 knew enough to press their attacks. The very next effort had Ang Yi Da switch across to the right flank and cut one back short for Swiss winger Mario Schumpbach, who however chipped it inches wide of the near top corner. Not a problem, as Grilled's nervous goal kick was soon hammered back at them, and Tejas Gopalakrishnan rounded
Chad Thach's attempted tackle to earn his second goal in three minutes.
The gallery would chant Gopalakrishnan's Number Twenty at that, and the Jokers would tease a hat-trick, with Grilled seriously wavering. It was a sign of how affected they were that they had no fewer than three men hanging on Gopalakrishnan when Chan Jian Jian advanced, which left a huge hole for Hans-Ulrich Rehn to exploit at the far post. For once, this was probably not
Dahan Bok's fault, but that did not prevent the unlucky goalkeeper from looking miserable as he retrived the ball.
The Birds would wrangle the game back to some sort of equilibrium, but this was hardly enough to make up for the considerable disadvantage that they were now under. They would retain sufficient possession to remain dangerous, and after a particularly long spell with the ball,
Chia Kwang Tse would try a quick shot in the 58th minute. It was deflected, but only to
Mohd Marzuki Khairul, who creamed it home for 3-2!
Unfortunately, Grilled were unable to build upon their newfound confidence, as the Jokers found their own groove. Vikas Satishchandra, who had just made his youth international debut against Kuwait a week or so ago, carried the ball about thirty yards with a majestic air, before
Aw Keng Chuan finally made to intercept. This was a development that Satishchandra was anticipating, however, from how crisply he immediately passed it on into Vibhav Singh's path, and the finish was too good for
Dahan Bok to get near.
Amazingly, the Birds actually had a reasonable shot at drawing back level, with the flow turning back their way after Chan's superb through ball to Tejas Gopalakrishnan two minutes later, was somehow missed. The importance of having a good custodian was reemphasized here, as Jens-Harald Schimmelpfennig stopped two excellent attempts from Aw, even as wingers
Brian Reddy and
Paulino Trindade dragged chances wide.
