Green Over Red
Báthory-Bozó Buzz
Grilled Birds got the better of Singapore Red Dragons once again in the Sapphire Challenger Cup, as they did two seasons ago in the quarters - which had Grilled then go on to lift the trophy. The margin of victory moreover remained the same, as Berik Dosman's decision to match Grilled with a 2-5-3 this time was not enough to move the needle.
With the Dragons having won both their home league fixtures since that day, with the Birds doing likewise, there was really no telling who would prevail at the admittedly under-capacity Ballota Stadium this afternoon. Russian central defender Dmitriy Ryaboshapko was the most notable absence in a Dragons team skippered by Romanian veteran Csaba Báthory-Bozó, who had scored their only goal in a 1-5 defeat earlier in the season. Frenchman Manuel Mari joined Madhuban Singh and old trusty Robert Veerma in attack, as the Dragons engaged Grilled at their own game.
This as it happened was perhaps not the best of tactical choices, with Grilled only too adept at attacking a Dragons team that had not been doing very well, to be honest - out of their seven league matches thus far, five had been losses, with four of those being shutouts besides. Possession would again be their Achilles heel here, and a lingering knee concern for David Walsh would prove fatal against
Gandhik Chitre in the 15th minute. The Birds Number Nine exhibited extraordinary close control to carry the ball past Walsh into the box, and he then chipped it over Tsjitse Westerlaan before help could arrive.
It got worse for the Dragons, as German referee Walerian Dawczyk called a shove on
Hwang Teck Fu inside the box, on Grilled's very next attack. The Singapore Red Dragons support was in an uproar even as
Raúl Himadas prepared the kick, and the Spanish defender certainly took his time in placing the ball
just so on the spot. His usual five-step run-up then followed, leading into a bluff as he smashed it right down the middle! Westerlaan had moved by then, and narrowly missed catching the shot with his raised leg.
Báthory-Bozó was one of the few Dragons players urging his mates to keep their heads up high after that, and it was quite appropriate that he would be the one to spark a possible comeback, with his relentless drive on Peh Da Kong's 26th minute cross that saw him outmuscle
Ha Qicai to score. Grilled bit back hard from the restart, however, and a quick free-kick after Roman Eloidze's foul and yellow card saw
Chad Thach reprise his national form, with a thunderbolt from the head of the penalty area. Westerlaan dove for it, but again came slightly short.
Tian Yonghang definitely looked a lot brighter than Dosman as the teams jogged in for half-time, with the Dragons head coach insistent on arguing the earlier penalty with Dawczyk. While nothing came of that, Báthory-Bozó would be the most dynamic driving force on the pitch as the second half began. He would raise his team's level almost all by himself with his energy, and this resulted in a second goal personally after 59 minutes, as Parmeet Naik overran both
Brian Reddy and
Raúl Himadas in a single go.
The semifinals got very tense once again, and with neither team eager to take risks, the match would oft degenerate into long periods of aimless passing in safe areas. The Dragons would remain the ones with a need to shake things up, of course, but their urgency would only leave themselves open to Grilled's predations.
Chia Kwang Tse swung one in from the left after good hold-up play from
Paulino Trindade in the 68th minute, but
Raúl Himadas was uncertain at whether to attack the invitingly-dropping ball with head or foot, and wound up brushing it wide with the former.
It was trundling towards a win by default for Grilled Birds, when the Dragons made their final push with about ten minutes left. Robust play by Roberto Sáenz Hernández had
Lim An Keng's left shin painfully clattered in the 82nd minute, but it was all worth it once Lim managed to set Reddy free with his next pass. David Walsh let the winger through, apparently convinced that the game had been stopped, and this allowed a far-ranging
Raúl Himadas to knock Grilled's fourth goal home, quite gleefully indeed!
This was not the end for Singapore Red Dragons, it has to be emphasized, as they made one of the best last stands - and charges - that Grilled had come across for some time. Manuel Mari nearly hit back immediately as the Dragons threw all they had at Grilled's goal, but
Ha Qicai would bail
Radomil Marcol out at the far post. The corner was cleared handily as
Aw Keng Chuan stood firm, and
Chia Kwang Tse engaged Tsjitse Westerlaan in a one-on-one with all of the opposition defenders having gone up... only to bang it off the upright after getting past the goalkeeper. The angle had become too tight, sadly.
The match would be stopped at this moment for Parmeet Naik to get his ankle looked at, with the winger having gone to ground trying to catch up to Chia. He had impressively nearly done so despite starting a full ten metres behind, and from how he burst off after his team won the drop ball, that ankle had suffered far less damage than feared. He would get a neat cross short to Roberto Sáenz Hernández as Grilled fell back, but Hernández's attempted chip would be caught and held by Marcol without too much ado.
