Monster Hunters
Reserve Power
Grilled Birds landed in Ontario to play Canadian III.16 club Lake Erie Monsters, who are of course an affiliate of current S-League club and former rivals, Sarcastic Fringeheads. The friendly ended 3-0 to the Birds, and was frankly a good training exercise for all involved.
The setups of the respective starting lineups mirrored each other in a way, with both teams retaining a strong midfield core while slotting trainees and backup players elsewhere. 17 year-old James Pratt debuted for the Monsters as their lone target man, with his academy seniors including Lou Demers and Matthew Helwig at the back. Ashley Goodlad brought first-team experience in the middle, while wingers Francesco Sperlongano and Jan Łyś underscored the threat out wide.
Against this, the Birds fielded
Genki Nagano in central midfield with
Dan Alstani having announced his intent to gauge his captain's ability to control games, while
Aw Keng Chuan took over in defence with a cloud hanging over his Birds future.
Hisham Zubari and
Paulino Trindade went to the wings with
Mohd Marzuki Khairul not making the trip with an injury, as
Kendell El Khateeb and
Mason Glendinning led the line once more.
It was a good day for the young strike duo, even if it took some time to get going; the match started out very open, as might have been expected from the somewhat ad-hoc composition of the squads.
Chad Thach sounded the first warning by clipping a lob over Jörg Branden and off the bar, before end-to-end drama about the 25th minute. The Birds defence only barely cleared Neville Thwaites's cross-turned-attempt off the line, but Lake Erie Monsters would have their own goal attempt to deal with within the minute, and Branden only just about tipped
Chia Kwang Tse's top corner-bound shot around his post.
A rough parity continued to be maintained as the hosts patiently waited for Grilled to commit mistakes, and
Mason Glendinning made a huge one 35 minutes in, as he nearly caught
Dahan Bok out by hitting a strong backpass without looking. The goalie just about managed to get back in time, and the youngster would be glad for
Kendell El Khateeb taking attention off him, with a sweet right-footed strike three minutes later to put Grilled up. Fullback Matthew Helwig tried to get his team straight back into the game as he went over flying past
Mohsen El Khateeb into the box, but the referee thought there was no contact, and booked him instead.
The second half had Grilled stabilize, and they started to rack up the chances with Ashley Goodlad too often bypassed in midfield. Monsters were leaving far too much room behind their second line, and it appeared that their trainee centrebacks hadn't gotten the hang of pushing upfield just yet.
Chad Thach drew Lou Demers to him with a calculated dribble, before releasing
Mason Glendinning to shoot and finish - 2-0!
The hosts would not have time to ruminate about what had allowed Grilled's Number 29 to get in either, as they swiftly lost the ball after the restart - Finnish playmaker Severi Hella's idea was good, but his fellow were simply not on the same wavelength.
Paulino Trindade steamed into the box with
Chad Thach intercepting and spraying it forward in a single fell swoop, only to be bodychecked from the side by Neville Thwaites. A penalty then, which
Fu Wenlong duly smashed into the top left.
Lake Erie Monsters would not be put down as they continued battling, and it would be Thwaites to get on the wrong end of Glendinning's elbow three minutes later. The home fans would roar for a yellow card, but given that Italian referee Rosario Oldoini had spared Thwaites one for his takedown earlier, he was perhaps entitled to disregard this request.
Paulino Trindade then had the final serious shot of the game in the 77th minute, but hooked it slightly off the near post.
