Picking Up The Pace
Hwang Closes Out
Grilled Birds kept their cup-winning momentum going with a 6-2 home result over frunzelax, more or less reversing their defeat earlier in the season. Loh Jia Fu would reprise his form then with a very sharp opening goal, but the Birds thundered back with four unanswered strikes, all before the thirtieth minute.
Close to seventy-three thousand had bought tickets for the fixture in The Cooking Pot's largest attendance this season by far, also encouraged by a spell of good weather in the lead-up. The Birds could not resist a short montage celebrating their Sapphire Challenger Cup success right before kick-off, though perhaps as a sop to humility, they would also play some of the visitors' highlights from their last meeting, signing off with Li Fu Ze's fifth and final goal at frunzelax Arena.
Li would be back for a second bite as French boss Chadi Selawi kept faith with an unchanged starting line, whereas
Lim An Keng would remarkably be left on the bench, as
Mohd Marzuki Khairul and
Chad Thach flanked cup hero
Hwang Teck Fu in the three-man attack.
Ananda Hettiarachchi's absence was less unexpected given his calf concern, and Myanmar midfielder
Hein Thiha Pyae Ko would thus be given his chance alongside
Chia Kwang Tse in midfield.
frunzelax won the toss, but it would be Grilled to register the first serious attempt about three minutes in, after
Phillip Nagata whipped an outswinger from deep down the right wing.
Wu Ping De met the cross with a flying header, but it was always going to be tough to keep it on target. Instead, it was the visitors to do the honours first after eleven minutes, with Loh Jia Fu scoring against Grilled Birds once more, after losing
Genki Nagano with a quick cut inside.
The home fans wouldn't have much time to worry, thankfully, as the Birds responded strongly from the restart; they would overturn the turn within nine minutes, with Nagata first going it himself against Felix Mporogomyi in the 16th minute, helped by
Hwang Teck Fu having made a nuisance of himself in the build-up. Three minutes later, Wu came good too after rounding Isaia Matrisciano by hugging the goalline, sending sign that the Birds' wingers were credible threats on their own.
frunzelax weren't perceptibly intimidated and kept to their ultra-offensive formation, but perhaps they should have been. Grilled were retaining the vast majority of the possession, and
Chad Thach's blast past Jorge Catriman in the 23rd minute was coming all the way. Six minutes later, the hyperactive
Phillip Nagata outflanked the young but overwhelmed Adrian Nam once more, to float in an inviting cross that
Chia Kwang Tse reached ahead of Giovanni Guaiana, to nod down and low past the goalie.
It stayed 4-1 to the Birds at half-time, and there appeared little indication of a change in the status quo, when
Hwang Teck Fu got things going once more. frunzelax fared batter when they managed to keep the tempo down, and Jayadevan Satarkar cleverly won a free-kick near the corner flag, after 62 minutes. James Gill cut it short after a tap-on by Walter Morán, and Adrian Nam popped up at the far post to guide Loh Jia Fu's drilled effort past
Radomil Marcol!
The away contingent had their hope restored by Nam's quick thinking, but
Hwang Teck Fu wasn't about to let it go any further than that. While the burly forward had been content with a more supportive role before, he could not resist exhibiting his increasingly-refined finishing abilities, when the ever-productive
Phillip Nagata came inside and played it to his feet. Gill wasn't prepared for Hwang's sheer inertia once he got going, and the sidefooted finale to the bottom right was good enough.
The visitors couldn't catch a break as Jayadevan Satarkar's attempt at a surprise rush from kick-off was seen through by
Aw Keng Chuan, which led to a reversal up the Birds' left wing instead.
Mohd Marzuki Khairul led the charge, only to miscue his finishing lob. It all came good as
Hwang Teck Fu overran Alexandru Cozma, who was waiting for the ball to come down, and powered himself - together with the ball - beyond Catriman as well.
That made it 6-2 and had Hwang carried out of the net by Marzuki and Thach, leaving Catriman winded on the grass. The referee allowed the goal to stand after reviewing the footage, which had frunzelax batter Grilled's backline in retribution. Adrian Nam came close to a second for himself, but had his classy 74th minute drive deflected clear by
Radomil Marcol. That would be retrieved by Loh, and James Gill got an even better opportunity from five yards a bit later - but Marcol's reflexes were impeccable.
