Day At Jerza
An Keng Concern
Grilled's third-round Singapore Cup match against Tanglin III.9 club Jerza Singapore would not provide much suspense for the fans at the Ballota, with the Birds having established an unassailable lead after about half an hour. There would be some regret for
Lim An Keng, however, after he had to limp off late following his half-time entry - which may put his participation in Sunday's league game in doubt.
Match commentators would note that the club previously holding the registration of Jerza Singapore - Even FC - had played Grilled Birds twice in III.16 75 years ago, which had to be their audience's ancient history tidbit for the day. There would turn out to be no change in the results today, if with
Dan Alstani having triple-checked his teamsheet after that Dominion International Cup mixup. As in the previous round,
Hisham Zubari and
Genki Nagano would feature in midfield, with
Chia Kwang Tse flanked by the young forwards.
Jerza came into the game having just crushed Bunbeg FC 4-1, with 22 year-old Chinese striker Cai Zongkai seizing acclaim after two goals and undoubted application. Cai would start today as well along with Italian partner Johnny Milanetto, aided by Kevin Zahradník and Hipólito Padra in midfield. Veteran playmaker Ilham Abd Rahim Al Baihaqi led Jerza out despite continued concerns about his failing pace, which Polish sweeper Marian Dietrich would be tasked to cover for.
This arrangement did not go well for Jerza after a short warm-up for Grilled, as they found no way to restrain the combination of Chia with two eager runners. The first nineteen minutes had already seen
Mason Glendinning free himself several times in and around the Jerza box, but it was
Chia Kwang Tse to break the deadlock helped by his ample experience. Recognizing that the youngster had taken Zahradník with him, he made to push past Dietrich with a swift turn of pace, and skipped a low shot beyond German goalie Golo Ferchhumer.
Two more goals came in the next three minutes with the opposition team giving every appearance of being stunned by going behind, something they could ill-afford against the predatory urges of
Chad Thach. Being pencilled in at left defence proved no obstacle for last season's Golden Boot winner, as he ran it past Ferchhumer after young Japanese leftback Shun Yoshida let him inside from Grilled's next push. Two minutes later, Thach had the crowd on its feet after meeting
Kendell El Khateeb's lob with a bicycle kick, which even had some of the Jerza support shaking their heads in amazement.
Kendell might not have found the net himself, but he would make himself quite useful in the Birds' build-ups. Grilled's declared formation would wind up pretty fluid in practice, which only added to Jerza's difficulty in securing targets to mark. This was how
Paulino Trindade found himself with nobody attending to him in the 32nd minute, and Kendell wouldn't disappoint with a promptly-hit low pass for the easy finish.
The reason why the gap wasn't wider by the end would be Grilled not making the most of their chances in the second half, with
Lim An Keng also maybe a little too generous in trying to setup his teammates after coming on.
Wu Ping De was the first would-be beneficiary after an extended move up the left flank had Hubertas Rašymas overwhelmed, but Wu would be desperately unlucky as his drive came back off the foot of the far post.
A fifth goal wasn't far away, however, as Jerza struggled to clear their lines. Shun Yoshida's attempt to take the ball up himself was laudable in its ambition, but there was simply not enough support, and he ended up losing the ball after not managing to find Hipólito Padra with his outlet pass.
Ananda Hettiarachchi briefly considered Grilled's runners, before threading it through for
Kendell El Khateeb to score his second Cup goal of the season.
Golo Ferchhumer would be Jerza's hero for the remainder of the game, starting with being quickest to react when
Hisham Zubari's effort took a huge bounce off a defender right after Kendell's goal. It would then be Dietrich's turn to bail his goalkeeper out after
Mason Glendinning lifted it over a rushing Ferchhumer on a 74th minute breakaway, and it was not until the match was stopped after Cai Zongkai's late takedown of
Lim An Keng after 82 minutes, that Jerza could enjoy an extended breather.
Phillip Nagata ended up replacing Lim, with Kendell then wasting a good chance in injury time.
