Bogey No Moe
Chan Secures History
Nobody could have imagined that 43 year-old honorary coach
Chan Ze Han would be the one to secure another Sapphire Challenger Cup for Grilled Birds, but this was indeed how reality turned out, in a script that would have been deemed too outlandish had it been part of a Netflix show.
Moeinsingapore had not managed the most convincing build-up into the finals, and are currently sitting seventh in II.4; what they had, however, was the best competitive record against Grilled Birds bar none, having won all five of their fixtures before this: four in Division Two about ten years ago, and the latest in the third round of the Singapore Cup four seasons back, the campaign before they went on to lift it. Goh Yew Shun, who struck a brace then, would start in midfield today, having earned ten national caps recently.
The only other big question mark for Moeinsingapore would be Spanish winger Jaime Isturiz, but he would be cleared to start at left wing, on his 32nd birthday. Yang Feng Da received the loudest reception, though, before the camera panned to Abhishek Gupta, whose neck remained in a light cast after breaking a collarbone in the quarterfinals against Crypto Moon. Had it not been for that injury, Gupta would definitely have been contending on the field, instead of having to occupy a seat behind the dugout.
Darko Andrović marched out for the Birds as anticipated for his full debut, with the rest of the side looking very familiar indeed.
Mohd Marzuki Khairul had not appeared for several weeks after messing up his chest against West Merlions, but he would rush out to take his place at the head of the Grilled attack today, looking none the worse for the layoff.
Chad Thach, whom one might have expected to fill that role given his form, was instead deployed to the right of
Aw Keng Chuan in midfield.
With no big innovations in tactics, the finals would proceed after a short delay caused by some unplanned fireworks set off by the green end. Marzuki knocked it back after Colombian referee Andrés Ignacio Pérez made his final checks... and the match got off to a very slow start, as the Birds made to control the rhythm. This was quite unlike their usual approach, but Moeinsingapore did not care to interfere, and it was largely a bore until
Chia Kwang Tse broke the tedium with a probing strike from outside the box in the 14th minute, that drifted a couple of metres wide.
Tian Yonghang looked satisfied at that, and after conferring with
Ha Qicai at the touchline with Grilled holding the ball up well, the Birds would gradually push the pace. It really began to heat up about the 29th minute, with
Mohd Marzuki Khairul forcing the first actual save of the game out from Canadian goalie Amit Washington. The Birds inched closer and closer with
Chad Thach crashing a big volley off the bar two minutes later, and the crucial goal finally came from a
Raúl Himadas corner immediately following that. Goh tried to stay on
Lim An Keng knowing well how deadly he could be in such situations, but there was simply nothing for it once the ball came in for the Number Eight. Lim got the contact right at the apex of his leap, and Washington had no chance.
The Moeinsingapore goalkeeper had to stay on his toes as Grilled continued plowing into his backline, and had he not kept his wrist stiff against
Brian Reddy's powerful boot, it might well have gone in too. Reddy was switching up flanks with Andrović to great effect, though their understanding wasn't perfect, and indirectly allowed Alex Oldenbeuving in to likewise rock the woodwork in the 37th minute. The Birds would have the final say for the half through
Mohd Marzuki Khairul, but his attempt after some classic centreforward-style shielding would be hit too high.
It was a wonder how the half had ended with just the one goal, on review, but in any case Moeinsingapore were resolved not to stay passive once the match restarted. Lithuanian gaffer Milvydas Levišauskas had to have recognized that they were getting lead by the nose all too often, and the game resumed with Goh Yew Shun rallying his teammates to push forward. An excellent counter would be unleashed in the 56th minute after Jaime Isturiz stole it off
Brian Reddy, and Yang Feng Da had
Radomil Marcol sprawling to guard his near corner, with his blazing-fast no-backlift grounder. It would ultimately wind up inches wide, to the dismay of the Moeinsingapore fans.
Grilled Birds would be the ones wanting it to just be over, from how they started to pass it about aimlessly, and this despite repeated demands from Tian and some of the senior players to stay positive. Reddy in particular became erratic with few options available to him, and after getting boxed in by Akolie Lopez and Alex Oldenbeuving after 56 minutes, the latter would dispossess him and race down the left touchline.
Raúl Himadas' missed tackle meant that it became an emergency, but
Chad Thach intervened just enough to put Yang Feng Da off his finish.
This finally had the Birds wake up somewhat, but Moeinsingapore continued to look the more dangerous when they had the ball. There would be an exception when Marzuki threatened to make his way inside with 74 minutes on the clock before being cut down, but
Raúl Himadas' lofted free-kick came back down off the underside of the bar.
Hwang Teck Fu propelled himself as swiftly as he could towards the rebound, but Amit Washington threw himself over the ball.
Grilled's worst fears would soon be realised as they were pulled out of shape by Moeinsingapore's increasingly-sharp interplay, and with seven minutes left, Jerome Rego had their fans leaping in the air with his flying header onto Gerti Almeta's waist-high cutback. They would not have reason to sit back down with both teams having opportunities to win it outright next, as Chia's winding dribble across the Moeinsingapore six-yard box was followed by a close-run Mariano Clementz, after his defenders had cleared their lines.
Pérez blew for the end of regular time after less than a minute was added on, and extra time began with more drama as Grilled played to the whistle after Risto Haapola thought - wrongly - that he had been fouled by
Lim An Keng on the edge of his own box. Lim would himself be clattered by Washington as he strove to regain control, but the referee would again be silent, severely displeasing both sets of supporters.
Penalties looked more and more a likely outcome as the Birds slowly ran out of offensive steam, while their opponents had long lost the ambition to venture far from their own half.
Darko Andrović had the last go at deciding it from open play with his superb strike from fifteen yards in the 106th minute, but it went behind off the bar.
Ha Qicai would explicitly help Andrović on with the armband for luck as Tian made his triple substitution in preparation for the shootout, which saw
Dimitris Germanakos,
Chan Ze Han and
Toma Tamiya replace Ha, Marzuki and Lim.
Andrović chose heads as he faced off against Yang for the toss, and won it - which meant that
Raúl Himadas would be the first taker of the day. No problem, as he buried it low to Amit Washington's right, with the goalkeeper going the correct way well late. Risto Haapola then sent it into the left side of goal as
Radomil Marcol dived right too, before Greek reserve custodian
Dimitris Germanakos slotted it into the same corner as Himadas, for 2-1.
One could almost hear English playmaker Akolie Lopez's heavy breathing as he waited for the referee to give the go-ahead, before going to the right... but it was a little too high and close to the centre, allowing
Radomil Marcol to block it! Marcol dispensed with the celebrations after a single fist-pump as he stepped up next, and surprised Washington with a deliberate sidefoot to the left instead. Goh Yew Shun, who had done so much to put his team back in contention, would be next up for Moeinsingapore; his attempt to send Marcol the wrong way by suddenly pulling his shot worked, but also had him miss narrowly.
A couple of Goh's teammates would have to help him away after he sank to the ground after that, giving Grilled some additional time to choose their man for what could well be the decisive kick. It didn't take long as
Chan Ze Han carried the ball confidently to the spot - and he lived up to expectations, with an unsaveable hit that sailed straight into the top left corner!
