Running In The Rain
Aws Yeah
newbies are newbies recorded their fourteenth victory against Grilled Birds in drenched conditions at the newbies ground, and should really have had more after owning the second half. It simply did not go well for the Birds, who appeared unnaturally subdued throughout, and only managed to create three chances worth the name through the entire ninety minutes.
Dan Alstani went for consistency with the same starting XI that had done so well against Four Leaf Pandas last week, while newbies' under-pressure head coach Kwok Wan Yau made several changes, in particular rotating Zhong Kim Tse up into attack, while returning 20 year-old Aw Da Hui to the squad after he had entered their 1-3 loss to FC Marttaliitto as a substitute for his still-injured senior, Au Kong Su.
Genki Nagano had a long chat with newbies skipper Ghani Zakwan as Latvian referee Harald 'a' Bērziņš determined whether the match could go on, with the go-ahead finally given five minutes after the scheduled start time.
The derby would be a sorry sight, not for lack of effort from the groundskeeper, as the monsoon season took its toll on the turf. This made light of attempts to string low passes together, and
Chad Thach's 13th minute lob onto the bar owed more to his own raw instincts, than any overt planning. 29 year-old Harry Chong had stood off him in only his third game since returning to newbies, and a late 27th minute tackle on
Lim An Keng suggested that he has yet to fully integrate into the new system.
As so often happens, the match started to open up with the weakening of the rainstorm, and newbies' home advantage duly came to the fore. The fixture had been finely poised through the first half-hour, but newbies' players would turn out to just have that extra little bit, as the ground started to dry and firm out.
Chad Thach's deficiencies on defence were exposed as Tan Chu Chao raced by him in the 33rd minute, which was the cue for longtime buddy Li Choon An to glide in from the other wing to open.
The scoreboard had yet to reflect Li's goal when it was 1-1, however. Grilled would be relentless once they got going from the kick-off, and
Ananda Hettiarachchi came face-to-face with Xhemil Nallbani, after cutting through newbies' midfield line. Kishore Panjabi did well to deflect Ananda's scorching effort onto the woodwork... but it fell kindly for the waiting
Mohd Marzuki Khairul, who still had to get his aim spot-on with Gregor Epplen rushing across to block.
The titantron would belatedly acknowledge both goals as the teams formed up for another restart, and there would be a repeat of the same about five minutes later. It was Tan Chu Chao to rack up another assist in the 39th by swiping it inside for the far-ranging Epplen to knock home, but the Birds would again answer within the minute. This time,
Hwang Teck Fu did some excellent holding-up before pushing it back for
Aw Keng Chuan to shoot, and the latter's absolute bullet from just outside the box would be patently unsaveable.
This was two-all at half-time, about par for the course for this fixture, and the home supporters would not have long to wait for their team to claim the lead a third time. Grilled were trying to get something going from their own territory, with
Aw Keng Chuan turning one way and then another to find the best pass... only to have it picked off in mid-air by the leaping Lam Kang Su.
Genki Nagano might still have gotten to the final pass to Aw Da Hui, but he didn't, and the youngster's serviceable grounder would then squeeze by
Radomil Marcol.
There would be a full minute of festivities at the corner flag after this one, and if the visiting fans wanted the game to resume then, expectations would swiftly wane as the newbies took over wholesale. Grilled would soon be huffing unproductively after the ball as the hosts played keep-ball, which had Chan Meng Heng force Marcol into a difficult stop in the 55th minute.
Hisham Zubari tried to put it out, but only got it as far as Harry Chong, whose snap volley drifted inches wide of the near post - to evident relief from the still-recovering Grilled goalkeeper.
A Birds rally was not forthcoming as newbies are newbies stayed firmly in control here, and
Genki Nagano was stone-faced as he went off for
Fu Wenlong towards the end. The single minute of added time would nearly see newbies grab a fourth, but for Zubari getting the barest of clearing headers on Zhong Kim Tse's good left-wing delivery, to brief dismay from Chen Meng Heng.
