Lack Of Chill
Marzuki In A Hurry
The new season kicked off with a 9-0 wipeout of Clementi amateurs Next Chill Football Club, with
Mohd Marzuki Khairul especially eager to restore his reputation after a mediocre year. The Chill players did not seem overly happy to have to play in the pouring rain either, with the Blood Bath Arena a mudbath even before the starting whistle.
Chill captain Wong Jia Sze, a 31 year-old army regular, was realistic about his team's chances, and stated that they were just out to keep the score down in a sensible 4-4-2. This lasted all of ten minutes against what was basically Grilled Birds' preferred starting lineup, with the possible exceptions of
Ananda Hettiarachchi and
Chia Kwang Tse.
Wu Ping De had the measure of graduate student rightback Chiang Min Huat in any case, and he slipped it inside for Marzuki to hammer home following some cheeky posturing.
27 year-old goalkeeper and food delivery regular Tai Yunkai had plenty of time to get used to the feeling of picking the ball out of his net, with
Aw Keng Chuan breezing through on the other side six minutes later. Mohd Atiq bin Zainal did well to hold his own against
Hein Thiha Pyae Ko for long stretches, but there was no covering for Wu's continual incursions on the left, that had Marzuki and
Phillip Nagata put Grilled 4-0 up by the 36th minute.
This was about what was expected, to be honest, and the home fans gave no indication that they regretted packing the stadium. 18 year-old favourite Ma Ruifan brought loud cheers when he raced towards a long ball from kick-off - despite having been sent off in his latest league appearance for deliberate handball - only to have it cleared easily by
Hisham Zubari.
Phillip Nagata picked it up and charged, and Hein would lift it gracefully past Tai for the fifth goal.
The rain had thankfully let up slightly about then, which however didn't exactly bring relief to the embattled hosts.
Chad Thach had been sniffing about after spending the first half maintaining tactical discipline in midfield, and he opened his account with a fine volley off Zubari's knock on in the 55th minute. Young polytechnic student Ha Fukai looked shaken from that, but
Lim An Keng was not one for mercy as he lapped up an underhit backpass by Ha, making it seven.
There would then be a short breather 63 minutes in for Kong Keng Hui to have his condition assessed following an unfortunate collision, after which Hwang notched a sitter following bad miscommunication between Tai and his defenders.
Lim An Keng had
Chad Thach to thank for an entirely miraculous no-look cross five minutes later, and Hwang could have put it into double digits with more luck.
