Clear Skies
Chad Up
Singapore Red Dragons' record of not winning at The Cooking Pot would be extended, as the Birds clapped them 5-1 in a straight-shooting clash decided by midfield power. Canadian fullback Chris Averett would miss this fixture due to a sprained wrist, which had Russian Number Two Dmitriy Ryaboshapko assigned against
Brian Reddy - not a good sign, for the visitors.
Dahan Bok would start again for Grilled Birds with a technically-available but not match-fit
Dimitris Germanakos left on the bench, and Dahan would raise his esteem amongst the Grilled faithful greatly in the 20th minute, after a tetchy introduction to the game. A late takedown by
Mohd Marzuki Khairul on Madhuban Singh had Robert Veerma line it up about three yards outside the box, but his fierce left-footer bent around the outside of the wall, was somehow anticipated by the Japanese goalkeeper.
That had
Ha Qicai ruffle Dahan's hair in genuine appreciation, and the Birds returned to the fray with renewed vigour. Sensing that the Dragons' left defence was a particular vulnerability, they pressed Ryaboshapko hard whenever they could, and this would free
Brian Reddy to divert himself to the middle in the 27th minute, to slip it past Tsjitse Westerlaan on the inside. Two minutes later,
Gandhik Chitre came up with his own dribble to cut past Artem Lobashov, and Westerlaan went to ground too soon to leave a simple chip open.
Aussie referee Pietro Cibò would have to get the Grilled players to restart the match in a timely manner after Chitre dragged out his celebrations, not that it affected how the game was leaning. The Birds were holding the ball almost at will with their guests being unable to press them effectively, which had
Aw Keng Chuan make more than a few bombing raids. One of those in the 37th would have a defender unable to keep an attempted interception under control, and Aw would sweep the ball away, and finish with aplomb!
Grilled Birds had not lost their hunger for goals even at three-nil up, and they restarted with a maniac rampage that the Dragons were not expecting. This had
Raúl Himadas clear in space up the left, but he crossed instinctively - and poorly - despite having an open run on goal.
Gandhik Chitre then went for another lob an hour in, and landed it on the roof of the net with Westerlaan backpedalling furiously.
This was also about when
Chad Thach really became coming into his own, with Singapore Red Dragons increasingly unable to keep a handle on the energetic Number Ten. Parmeet Naik would be left forsaking the wing to man-mark Thach at times, but even this was not enough to prevent Marzuki from picking him out with a fine outside-of-boot flick with 67 minutes gone. Dmitriy Ryaboshapko tried to get in the way, but Thach dodged his clumsy block, and thrashed the ball in off the far post for 4-0.
The Dragons' consolation would arrive five minutes later, as Naik found himself far more comfortable on the offensive.
Raúl Himadas would not be able to shadow his breakout, and a timely cutback saw Romanian midfielder Csaba Báthory-Bozó slam a powerful grounder past a disappointed
Dahan Bok. Grilled had the last word through
Chad Thach a couple of minutes on, in any case, and Thach would go off to a huge ovation together with Himadas, in the last minute.
