Still Kings Of Cooking
Combo Goes Mad
Queenstown MZKs have seldom made it easy for Grilled Birds whatever condition they were in, and today was no exception as they threatened to take points from The Cooking Pot, having returned from a season in the III.13 wilderness, where they had run roughshod over all comers buoyed by the big signings of Italian goalkeeper Romano Santirocchi, and Czech playmaker Tomáš Aron. Both would face the Birds for the first time today, with Queenstown boss Diego Maestri choosing to challenge Grilled in their own 2-5-3.
There were plenty of familiar names too, with the front three of Adem Boğ, Combo M'Madi and Satya Khade having featured in their fair share of this fixture - with local attacker Khade coincidentally celebrating his 33rd birthday. Hungarian winger Gilberto Raas would be a strange one, however, having been frozen out after consecutive 3-5 and 0-4 defeats against Grilled Birds, some four seasons ago. He appears content to continue playing out his contract, however, with homegrown wingers Soo Jie and Kwek Ho Jie having long since established themselves as Maestri's preferred duo.
It was quickly clear that this would be an unornamented slugfest of pure offensive exchanges, perhaps not quite the calculated bait-and-switch that has been so popular at the top levels, but fetching in its own way. Grilled could have no objections at this approach, of course, but they would be the first to stagger, as
Raúl Himadas stood too far off Satya Khade in the fifth minute. That allowed the Number Seven to dart inside the box with the ball, and led to Adem Boğ being served it on a plate for 1-0.
Himadas attempted to make up for that error the best way he knew - by scoring one of his own - but Romano Santirocchi reminded just why Queenstown had conceded just twelve league goals over the entire year last season, as he reached the top corner-bound free-kick with a gigantic leap. The corner was cleared in turn, but the Birds kept the pressure up, and forced English defender Gavin Rotenberg into a late trip on
Mohd Marzuki Khairul in the 14th minute. Marzuki restarted play as soon as possible, and
Lim An Keng curled it brilliantly home from the edge of the penalty area, to much acclaim from the home fans behind the goal.
The Birds remained very unconvincing without the ball, sad to say, and it always felt like the visitors had a way back in. Soo Jie found converted wide man
Hwang Teck Fu a less-than-willing marker at times, and one of his dribbles down their right wing would end with him placing it nicely for former youth international Amal Razin Abdul Rafi to finish. It was now Grilled's turn again, and although Santirocchi saved nicely from
Lim An Keng in the 33rd minute, Tomáš Aron fouled in restraining
Chia Kwang Tse from moving in, and
Raúl Himadas took his second chance at redemption with an improved delivery from some twenty yards.
This was 2-2 at half-time, and Queenstown could claim to be the ones who had gotten more out of the game thus far.
Tian Yonghang's remedy for the second half would be to take
Hein Thiha Pyae Ko off for
Genki Nagano, with this not quite being the Myanmar star's ideal environment, given he was facing off against Amal Razin. Genki would leave the opposing Number Eight with far less freedom, which was soon reflected in Grilled's quality of possession.
The team in green were advancing rather more frequently than they had now, but actual goals remained at a premium with Santirocchi continuing to stand firm and command his box well. An attack across the entire front would finally overwhelm the Queenstown backline 56 minutes in, and Santirocchi was left to charge
Chad Thach as the latter rushed an abrupt reverse pass. Thach reached it a second ahead of the goalie, and it was all Santirocchi could do to avoid contact - and a likely booking - as the ball sailed over him into the empty net.
Several Queenstown players could not hide their frustration at their prior efforts having come to naught, with Comoros forward Combo M'Madi particularly poor at keeping his emotions in check; this had helped him score four times from his six previous appearances in this fixture, but would also be a liability in such circumstances. There was really no need for him to sweep the ball away from
Brian Reddy as the Birds winger jogged towards it for a throw, and Kenyan referee David Lelel responded to that nonsense with a straight yellow card.
Well, this did spur the visitors to a collective response, and Gavin Rotenberg conjured up an equalizer from next to nothing in the 66th minute, having somehow popped up on the left. M'Madi would then flirt with putting his team back ahead with a forceful free-kick that
Radomil Marcol barely parried over the bar, but he would then be cemented as the villian for the day after his shove on a ball-shielding
Ha Qicai in the 78th minute. The realization of what he had done only dawned on him as Lelel came running up with his hand in his pocket, and M'Madi's fervent pleas were for naught as he was sent off.
Still, it was a little late for the Birds, so the commentators predicted - but they were made to eat their words just three minutes on, as the otherwise-restrained
Hwang Teck Fu dipped an outrageous volley past Santirocchi from the right edge of the box. Satya Khade was then booked for trying to keep his team in the game, but a quick take again worked out for Grilled with
Lim An Keng feeding
Brian Reddy for a conclusive fifth goal.
