Top Kicks
Chemjong Settles
Grilled Birds' last friendly of the season would be in Nepal against II.3 club Himalayan Kickers, who like Cameroon Elite League side FC Chewy-Dangers 2021 were spun off from Germany's SV Donaustetten. The Kickers would tame the Birds 3-2 through an injury-time goal in a closely-fought game, which also saw
Mason Glendinning sustain a concerning fall.
With
Hisham Zubari still undergoing treatment too,
Genki Nagano held fort in midfield beside
Hein Thiha Pyae Ko and
Mohsen El Khateeb, the latter whom looked slightly out of sorts in this new position.
Zaini Zainuddin Junaidi started at left attack once more, and 42 year-old Finnish veteran
Markus Pallas got a rare outing. Against this was arrayed the hosts' 4-5-1, that had Cameroon international James Obi leading them in the middle with countryman Ousmane Olinga Essono. Homegrown midfielders Rohit Tamang, Suman Dhakal and Ashish Kapali featured too, in various capacities.
The first half was largely devoid of remarkable events, as Himalayan Kickers placed priority on keeping their own goal safe. This was furthered by their going in front after sixteen minutes, after Ashish Kapali chanced upon a stray pass following
Damian Hutter's alert bodychecking of intended recipient Conrad Layola.
Dahan Bok couldn't get across in time, as Kapali sent it into the top corner with the side of his right boot.
James Obi received the only yellow card of the half with a crunching tackle on
Fu Wenlong in the 32nd minute, and he might have even gotten away with it had he but been a fraction quicker. Fu would get his own back two minutes into the next half, after
Zaini Zainuddin Junaidi won a corner on the left side. The Chinese winger sent it deep, and
Damian Hutter flew in to convert it as Nirmal Musaharani's leap fell just short.
Clear chances remained difficult to find as the Kickers sat deep, with Grilled's inexperienced front three not being able to work their way inside against such numbers. The home side would moreover see more of the ball, and a 79th minute turnover off
Mohsen El Khateeb's miscontrol had Rohit Tamang dribbling onto goal with
Hein Thiha Pyae Ko hopelessly behind.
Markus Pallas was the only one left to meet Tamang, but proved no obstacle with Conrad Layola also making his presence felt.
Young Swiss referee Koni Stuter would be kept busy upon the restart, as Ousmane Olinga Essono charged right into
Mason Glendinning, after the Birds forward had been closed down and engaged by Gulshan Yadav. Although Essono got the ball, Stuter judged it to be excessive use of force, as evidenced by Glendinning being laid out on the grass.
Dan Alstani looked very concerned on the touchline as the medics attended to the forward, and
Chad Thach would eventually have to be brought on.
That marked a swift turnaround for Grilled Birds on the free-kick, which caught the Himalayan Kickers team being a little too ambitious on their positioning.
Genki Nagano risked bringing it up from midfield by himself, and succeeded after whirling away from Suman Dhakal's approach. Out of the several possible outlet passes, Genki opted for the most direct one with
Kendell El Khateeb making his move away from Binodh Kamat, and Kendell indeed slotted it past Maciej Zakwaśny after a good first touch.
A draw felt like a fair enough result, but the hosts' Dutch gaffer Yuri van Soldt was not satisfied, from how he threw Nabin Prasai on for Conrad Layola whilst making a host of tactical swaps in the final minute. This worked well enough, as Tamang outran Pallas down the right wing, to squeeze a cross back for Dev Chemjong to volley into the net from ten yards.
