Triple Double
Glendinning Upbeat
Grilled Birds touched down in Bhutan for the first time to play IV.47 club Cickelinho26, an affiliate of Germany's Damelköppe 07. The friendly match ended 6-1 under clear skies, with the unlikely trio of
Damian Hutter,
Mason Glendinning and
Mohd Marzuki Khairul recording a brace each.
Local head coach Phurpa Wangmo had yet to delve into the transfer market since Cickelinho26's establishment towards the end of January, but it was not to say that his squad was to be dismissed. While first-choice goalkeeper Penjor Namgay was missing from the lineup, Wangmo had not held much back otherwise, beginning with 18 year-old hotshot Chhimi Norbu Wangdi in attack. There would be an obvious emphasis on Wangdi's right flank, with winger Umang Amarnath and fullback Dawa Deki deployed to feed him as much as they could.
This arrangement had Cickelinho26 win three of their latest four league games, with Wangdi having just scored twice - together with Amarnath - in a four-nil sweep of semi-pros Haa Academy FC. Neither would be given much opportunity to dazzle against Grilled's all-business setup, alas, with the Birds midfield possibly taking this rather more seriously than they had to.
Hwang Teck Fu was certainly not sparing much effort against Chhimi Dorji in his fifteenth minute charge upfield, which ended with a surprisingly delicate pass outside for Hutter to polish off.
Custodian Nishan Thapa had barely settled back into position when he was beaten once again, after his teammates played too fast and loose from the restart. Tshering Wangmo, who had just celebrated his nineteenth birthday, hadn't seemed to have internalized the safety-first approach of good central defenders, and lost it on the turn to a marauding
Mason Glendinning, three days his senior. Glendinning was evidently not experienced enough either to properly gauge the probability of mistakes, but his gamble paid off handsomely for 2-0.
Glendinning only raised his game after scoring, and with strike partner
Kendell El Khateeb evidently under the weather, he would be allocated ample time on the ball by his comrades. The hosts' three-man defence pressed courageously, but this was insufficient to discourage the hungry young forward, as he capped another goal home from nearly twenty yards, in the 25th minute.
Chhimi Norbu Wangdi appeared unhappy at the limelight being taken from him, but all his efforts to force a response got him would be a yellow card for pushing
Mohsen El Khateeb over from behind.
Damian Hutter made it four after 32 minutes with Cickelinho26 captain and leftback Sonam Norbu unable to keep tabs on
Genki Nagano's flickering movements, and Thapa had to be at his best to deny
Hwang Teck Fu the very next minute, with his backline of no help then.
Grilled's changes at half-time would be
Chad Thach and
Cameron Law in for Chia and
Dahan Bok, both of whom had not been exercised much. There would then be a long lull with the Birds looking to preserve their energy under the strong sunshine, and the home side not being overly eager to extend themselves either. Chhimi Dorji did try to motivate his teammates from midfield, but found next to no support in his forays.
This kept up until the 78th minute, when
Wu Ping De suddenly sprang into life with a daring rush arrowing up the left touchline; none of the opponents knew quite what to make of that, but
Mason Glendinning missed the initial contact for once - but that allowed the ball through to
Kendell El Khateeb. Although Kendell had not been expecting that, he adapted smoothly enough to tap the ball away from Tshering Wangmo's incoming tackle, but Nishan Thapa would be there to claim it.
The next goal would come from a more experienced head, literally as it happened as
Mohd Marzuki Khairul nodded home from Wu's cross, some two minutes later. Hutter then went for his hat-trick to encouragement from the bench as he connected well with Kendell's well-weighted short lob, but Thapa just about pushed it over the crossbar. Umang Amarnath's moment then arrived as his team rallied up in force on the right wing as long-anticipated, with Sangay Choden's doubling-up proving to be the boost they needed. 5-1 it was, then.
The match was hardly over despite that, with Marzuki replying in an instant from a ripping drive over at the right corner of the penalty box. Further chances would be had - and wasted - by Kendell and Mason before the final whistle, and before a very unfortunate accident saw Sangay Yangchen laid out on the ground. Chhimi Dorji and
Toma Tamiya then entered following the stoppage, which left the remaining players with little appetite for more.
