The Relief Of Nothing
Goalless Recovery
It is not often that the Grilled fans cheer a goalless ninety minutes at The Cooking Pot, even sporadiocally, but today would be a well-justified exception given that it stopped the Birds' competitive losing streak at four games. Since the Earthquakes' last four had seen at most one goal from each club - and zero as often - this was not exactly unexpected.
Earthquakes' 77 year-old head coach Lokmalhakim bin Abu Shah had made no major changes to his squad over the least season, but with the likes of Kenyan international Kapuki Oyoo and Cambodian international Khemera Luu onboard, there was understandable doubt over whether he had to. The six goals that they had let in at Ground Zero was by far the most they had in a single match this season, but this was not sufficient for Lokmalhakim to attempt any appreciable change in his approach, save the inclusion of Lim Cheng Hui for Wee Chuan Han in central midfield.
Grilled for their part knew well that they had to overcharge their offense as much as possible to have even a prayer at breaching Marco Raimondo's goal, and this had the front three of
Chia Kwang Tse,
Hwang Teck Fu and
Mohd Marzuki Khairul stay rather further forward than usual.
Paulino Trindade gained a start on the left with the Birds still missing
Lim An Keng, and with
Aw Keng Chuan dropped - supposedly for tactical reasons.
In any case, it was definitely not in midfield or possession that Grilled Birds found their problems. They had well enough of the ball, some 70 percent to be exact, but pitifully few credible efforts on Raimondo.
Chad Thach had one in the ninth minute, when he just about nosed ahead of Ong Rong Jing to get a shot on, but the Italian goalkeeper had only to watch the effort skip past his left post.
That was all Grilled truly created for most of the half, which proceeded with a spate of Earthquake counterattacks, most frequently concluded by former Glory Paradiso playmaker Muhammad Hairulnizam Shamsuddin. Right winger Phua Long Feng then came close with his foray in the 35th minute, and although his right-footer dipped wide, it signalled the end of the work day for
Raúl Himadas, who had twisted his left ankle in shadowing Shamsuddin on the other flank.
Aw Keng Chuan thus got his appearance anyway, and the game continued with
Chad Thach getting a second bite at the cherry, only for Raimondo to dive promptly to keep his jab from entering. Mohd Sharbinee Azmil had the ball in
Radomil Marcol's side-netting within seconds, as the action then shifted to Ong Rong Jing catching
Mohd Marzuki Khairul late. Marzuki was fortunately mostly unhurt, and Ong would receive a caution that will see him suspended against West Merlions next Sunday.
The second half got underway with no change in the weather condition, as Grilled found themselves increasingly keeping the ball in the air to adapt.
Hisham Zubari tried to fulfil his central role to the greatest extent of his ability, but this was not enough against Earthquakes' iron discipline. One of Chew Aik Keong and Muhammad Hairulnizam Shamsuddin would be on him whenever he received the ball, which kept his options limited.
It was down to Marzuki, then, as the forward kept plugging away at Niko Antikainen - who did look a little less assured than usual on the muddy pitch. Marzuki got through in the 75th only to have the referee ignore his penalty plea off Raimondo's charge, and it took great defensive pressure from
Aw Keng Chuan to throw Phua Long Feng off, on the resulting counter. The ball would not be cleared far, and Egyptian striker Abd El Galil El Batran would get his best chance of the night by far as Quek Pin Ze slammed it back upfield, but he missed Marcol's right post by inches.
That did encourage Lokmalhakim to change things up in a bid to claim full points, which had Lim Cheng Hui enter for Chew in midfield, but to little impact. Tian's substitutions of
Mason Glendinning and
Kendell El Khateeb on in the last minute smelt much more of just giving the youngsters some encouragement in contrast, and one could see that Glendinning for one certainly appreciated this debut.
