UP FC 0 - 9 Grilled Birds
Only Way Is Up
Genki! Genki!
It would be a trip down the road to play fellow Jurong club UP FC in the first round of the Singapore Cup, with the hosts having subsisted happily as an amateur setup, after entering administration back in 2009. Led by Bao Xianhua since then as something of a social venue for new immigrants, this ended about as expected with the Birds gliding to a 9-0 whitewash.
German expat-turned-referee Edward Grabler was a bit of a celebrity for the UP FC crowd, who had been more accustomed to their own staff moonlighting as the match officials. Stylishly-coiffured Haji Jamal Nasir bin Raja Shoib, a teacher in his other life, bantered casually with
Ha Qicai as the captains gathered for the coin toss, which Jamal Nasir won. This would be about the only thing they would get the better of Grilled about today, however, and even a massed defensive effort only delayed the opener for thirteen minutes; 21 year-old goalkeeper and national serviceman Xu Jiewei parried
Chad Thach's initial strike with some difficulty, and
Lim An Keng swooped in with the extra touch.
That was followed by the first yellow to UP FC's Hahi bin Mohammad, as he contested the referee's non-decision after getting tackled by
Brian Reddy - fairly, as it turned out. Grabler would then spot some unsubtle shirt-pulling from sweeper and bank trainee Niu Anhang as he tried to keep
Gandhik Chitre under tabs in the 17th minute, and
Raúl Himadas simply waited for a nervous-looking Xu to commit, before rolling the penalty the other way.
Grilled Birds got the score up to 5-0 by half-time as they kept to the basics, which was more than enough given the difference in technical ability and fitness between the sides. Chitre's fine drive off
Genki Nagano's clever off-footed pass in the 27th minute was followed by two more in the 32nd and 33rd, with Genki lapping it up after
Hwang Teck Fu's capitalizing on Mo Guoping getting his own legs tied up. Chia would try his luck with a dive after slight contact afterwards, but the referee would card him instead, to broad approval from the UP FC fans.
The second half started quite slowly with Grilled Birds seemingly not interested in overexerting themselves with victory assured, and the hosts weren't keen on chasing the ball either, as it got pinged between the Birds players mostly in their own half. The restless crowd soon made their disapproval known, and
Genki Nagano reacted with a blazing run in the 71st that completely burnt options trader Niu Anhang. A quick swish of his right foot had it in the net, and even the home fans found it hard to complain given the sheer artistry of it all.
There had to be more by how the game was going, and four minutes later, university student Syamsul bin Mohammed would unwittingly give away another penalty, after leaping with his arms outstretched with
Brian Reddy slamming in a cross. Himadas would again make to wait Xu Jiewei out, and when the goalkeeper elected to stand his ground, the Spanish specialist shrugged and thumped it into his natural bottom right corner with a practised ease.
Xu would have his moments too, as when
Chia Kwang Tse powered in a left-footed effort towards his near post in the 77th minute, which he punched just clear of the top corner. There would be another big save four minutes later as he spoilt
Raúl Himadas' hat-trick bid by getting a hand to his diving header, but Chia was there to turn the return pass home for 8-0. Chia then added a ninth after a bad backpass by Au Kiong Jia, which had Tian throw
Kendell El Khateeb,
Chan Ze Han and
Teo Chuan Yong on in a triple substitution towards the end.
