Leading In Jurong
Mohsen Popup
It would be seven straight victories for Grilled Birds going into their Ruby Challenger Cup final, the same as their opponents there, Sentoza Springboks. This was never assured after FC Jurong Rovers ran them to a 6-5 at The Cooking Pot last Sunday, which made a better result at their own ground hardly unlikely. Rovers boss Olexiy Gubiy appeared to agree, from how he fielded the same starting lineup, if with a minor shakeup between the central midfielders that had Spencer Bryan take the pivot.
A refreshed
Hwang Teck Fu would skipper the Birds again with
Genki Nagano in a race to be fit for Wednesday, but there was some good news at least for
Lim An Keng, who would be named as part of the squad for the first time in a fortnight.
Leongīns Luško would not start either as
Dan Alstani preferred
Hisham Zubari partnering
Johann Schwietzer, and there were no adjustments elsewhere either before the very young referee from Ghana - Thomas Kwakye - got the match underway.
Grilled were again first to get going, and
Paulino Trindade made the most of his deployment on the left wing, to test the reflexes of fullback Jordan Bondin. He pulled inside to meet
Chia Kwang Tse's sideways flick in the sixth minute, only to drag his effort slightly wide. The Birds did not lack for such chances luckily, and
Chad Thach picked up where he had left off with a fine 15th minute drive, hit low and very hard past Petar Panović from the middle of the box.
The rest of the first half was otherwise somewhat less eventful than last week, with Grilled Birds displaying an abundance of caution after inching ahead.
Ananda Hettiarachchi received a great break in the 23rd minute after no-one picked up his dribble from the right side of the box, and he converted with a deft left-footer bent into the far netting. Spencer Bryan created the hosts' biggest chance eleven minutes on after exploding past
Mohd Marzuki Khairul and then
Johann Schwietzer, but smashed it narrowly wide after
Radomil Marcol had gone to ground.
It was thus two-nil for the visiting Birds at the break, with little indication that there would be any difference in the second half, at least until Cătălin Papuc again entered for Arthur Burns on the hour mark. The Romanian playmaker made it his job to try new things, and he would personally get one back within seven minutes of coming on.
Hisham Zubari was engaged by Woo Jieyong as Papuc approached, and an early strike caught Marcol still setting himself.
That had Grilled Birds spring back into offensive mode, and their response in the 72nd minute came after
Phillip Nagata had done some flank-switching with
Paulino Trindade, after a brief defensive action left both wingers naturally on their less-accustomed sides. This did not bode well for a slightly-tired Bondin, who couldn't quite read Nagata's movements before he pulled it way back for
Mohd Marzuki Khairul. The oncoming midfielder briefly considered passing it on for Thach, before instead unleashing a cannonball straight past Panović.
This called for another tactical sub by Gubiy, with Eugen Wallau now off for Fang Kunlong at centreback. Incredibly, the Rovers would reduce the scoreline just a minute later, as Cătălin Papuc weaved upfield through the Birds midfield, to supply Woo with an easy finish right in front of goal. That had their witty supporters duly sing for a third substitution, which Gubiy however did not oblige.
Khalfan Al-Mukhaithi was looking increasingly threatening against Schwietzer now, and it was fortunate that
Chia Kwang Tse extended Grilled's lead once more when he did, upon snatching up a weak clearing header. Bondin then gave
Radomil Marcol something to think about with a world-class sidewinder three minutes from time, after which Alstani gave
Lim An Keng a return as part of a triple swop.
Mohsen El Khateeb, who had come on for Schwietzer, would not be far away with a speculative curling effort in added time.
