Delayed Eclipse
The Emperor's Hand
There would be some nervy moments early on, but Grilled Birds shrugged them off to prevail 6-3 against former S-League rivals Crypto Moon, for six wins out of six against the Serangoon-based III.11 club of French origin. The former Ruby Challenger Cup winners will thus have to wait a little longer to add to that haul, having exited in the semifinals against Ang Mohs in flip flops last term.
Similar to Grilled, Crypto Moon had kept an eye on this cup game in their last league fixture, resulting in a first defeat to now-leaders Sporting Supernova, 1-4 off an early Song An Keong brace. Established Latvian head coach Ēriks Strautiņš radiated confidence coming into the match, but indications were that many of his players had seen better form. Playmaker Vitaliy Khilkov would be one of the few exceptions, with skipper Bogdan Paraschivu and midfielder Yanisse Sorlin for example exhibiting questionable touch in their warm-up.
Chilean goalkeeper Nacho Paine did look sharp as well, as the Birds squad observed keenly from their own half;
Dan Alstani had fielded the strongest eleven available to him, or so he claimed, with
Mohd Marzuki Khairul still a few days from his scheduled fitness check.
Radomil Marcol's taped-up right foot remained a concern - and a ready talking point for the pundits - but what most of the pre-game discussion inevitably centered about would be the debut of former national youth winger
Wu Ping De, who lined up next to
Chad Thach on the left wing.
The weather at the Ballota in Pasir Ris had not cooperated, and despite the best efforts of the ground crew, the pitch remained waterlogged in parts by the time kick-off rolled around. Young French referee Patrick Isabelle showed no indication of wanting to delay or reschedule though, and Paraschivu started the game having won the toss against
Lim An Keng. Crypto Moon went through the gears smoothly, and opened in the eighth minute with Vitaliy Khilkov powering a strong header past a late Marcol from six yards, having gotten away from
Hisham Zubari to Jerzy Bekisz's corner.
It got much worse almost immediately, as the opposition broke through via Haiti national prospect Nicholas Guillite from the restart, with Wu having misread
Hein Thiha Pyae Ko's passing intentions. Guillite centered from deep as several of his teammates surged into the Birds box, and Bogdan Paraschivu bowled Hein aside for 2-0. Grilled recovered slowly, and fears of another cropper increased when
Lim An Keng's 21st minute effort went right to Paine, with
Phillip Nagata then slinging a sensational overhead effort down off the crossbar.
The sheer artistry of Nagata's attempt breathed new life into the Birds, who gained some relief when
Hwang Teck Fu lobbed Paine quite elegantly, four minutes on. It was back to Crypto Moon as they assembled a neat passing combination from kick-off largely due to Vitaliy Khilkov, but Jerzy Bekisz's throwing himself against
Hisham Zubari would be interpreted as simulation by the referee. Bekisz protested briefly at being carded... before running off-field to empty the contents of his stomach.
There would be concern from his medical team at that, but the Polish midfielder waved their concerns off. The first half ended with Crypto Moon still in the lead, about which they looked more than pleased. A rude awakening would be in store, however, as
Chad Thach tied it up barely three minutes after the restart; Swiss defender Lounis Robin Ringenberg hadn't counted on
Lim An Keng switching play so readily, and Grilled's Number Ten steamed straight inside, before guiding his finish under the goalie.
Grilled's full attacking terror was about to be unleashed, and it was
Lim An Keng who completed the overturning five minutes on, as
Phillip Nagata found Agostino Zerbini rather less intimidating on the back foot as the front. That said, the Number Eight's shoulder drop to lose his man remained a thing of beauty. Nagata picked up a second assist in as many minutes with
Chia Kwang Tse cooperating on another pacy pass from out wide, as
Hwang Teck Fu body-checked Bekisz, before unleashing a terrific volley.
The Crypto Moon fans could hardly believe how quickly their star had fallen, but the players would keep the pressure on, and it paid off as Hein released a weak ball into the path of former Colombian U-20 attacker Fernando Arroyo, on the hour. They would have their own problems at the back soon enough too, and the always-assured
Ananda Hettiarachchi would discern the momentary confusion between the centrebacks on a low bounce, to sneak a snap strike into Paine's top right corner.
The Birds' two-goal lead was thus restored, and
Dan Alstani shortly afterwards saved
Hein Thiha Pyae Ko from further embarassment, by taking him off for
Aw Keng Chuan. The experienced stopper knew exactly what he had been brought on for, and spent his time making Khilkov's life miserable. Grilled would be able to settle into keep-ball mode for the remaining ten minutes or so, with
Chad Thach poaching a sixth deep into injury time as
Wu Ping De made his move.
