Chad Match Met
Divine Thach
The Ruby Challenger Cup quarterfinals ended 0-8 to Grilled Birds against III.14 entrants Love Match, repeating their previous exits at this stage to Sarcastic Fringeheads and Yew Tea, over the last five seasons. Both of those losses had been by the odd goal, however, with the latter moreover after they had sensationally eliminated Fringeheads through strikes from Tam Lou and Phang Xin Yew.
The 34 year-old Tam Lou would start at right wing today too, if with Phang left out of the squad, as Love Match's Japanese head coach Norifumi Kawasaki bet his club's advance on a tight 3-5-2 formation. This extended as far as the first-minute double substitution on of Woo Jun Feng and Al Chan, with veteran centreback Yap Dong Soon and up-and-comer Devante Saechao apparently merely body doubles on the starting lineup. That was definitely not the extent of their available talent, that included much-storied Canadian hitman Lazar Opačić, and one-club midfield general Chen Yeng Teck.
Norifumi's tactical credentials were not in question after his team had racked up nine victories in succession coming into this game, while conceding just twice through all that streak. This ultimately counted for little against the full might of the Birds, for whom
Johann Schwietzer and
Chia Kwang Tse made their return.
Lim An Keng watched from the stands for once as
Hisham Zubari commanded the centre, and
Hwang Teck Fu led the line.
The initial subs done with, Love Match proceeded with a careful arrangement that allowed Grilled much of the possession while aiming to punish them on the counter, but it was always going to be hard to pull that off with the Birds understanding what was going on. Turnovers in midfield were next to non-existent with Grilled taking their time to craft their attacks, and the Tanglin hopefuls' plans effectively collapsed by the eighteenth minute, following a one-two jab by
Chad Thach and
Hwang Teck Fu. Sharp wide play outflanked the Love Match back three each time, and the forwards nicked it past Dutch custodian Hindrik van Loon each time.
It was all opposition captain Yang Shi Choon could do to keep his fellows going, but Grilled Birds were definitely not cooperating. He had his hands full with Grilled's attackers too, and a sudden swap by Thach to the right brought the forward his second goal of what would be many more. Schwietzer then had a try from ten yards that sailed narrowly over, before national defensive prospect Bryce Sin cut
Genki Nagano down as the Grilled captain came up.
The replays made it evident that Genki's left ankle had taken the brunt of Sin's stamp, and China referee Duan Xuanjiang caught plenty of shade from the Grilled fans in attendance, for sparing Sin the red card there.
Fu Wenlong entered as Hwang inherited the armband, and the Birds got their own back through
Chia Kwang Tse's overhead strike on an
Ananda Hettiarachchi assist. This led into another yellow card, this time for Leong Jie Long - but at least
Hisham Zubari dodged sufficiently out of the way for this.
The Love Match contingent were understandably restive given their impeccable record leading into this 0-4 downer by half-time, and they would display flashes of the offensive capabilities that had served them so well before, early in the second half. Opačić's constant floating about had
Fu Wenlong needing to be bailed out more than once, but there would be no consolation goal as Leong Jie Long's well-hit 57th minute was caught and held by
Radomil Marcol, with Scots striker Zak Redder not far away.
Grilled Birds were not having much luck on the attacking end yet either, and
Chad Thach's quest for a hat-trick hit a snag in the 62nd minute, when Al Chan hoofed it off the line after Thach's initial curler had crept past Van Loon. VAR confirmed no goal, but it would only be a delaying action in the end, as the motivated Number Ten put his right boot through the ball 76 minutes in, sending it straight to the back of the net despite Woo Jun Feng attempting to fling himself into the way.
That made it five-nil with fourteen minutes remaining, but Grilled - and Thach - were hardly finished yet. Many players would be resting on their laurels after three good goals, but not
Chad Thach, which however could be comprehended from how he had struggled to crack Grilled's cup lineups earlier in the season. The Love Match defenders were wary of getting too close when he collected the ball under Chen Yeng Teck's close watch several minutes on, and by the time they realized their error, it was too late with Thach having slid it past their goalie.
With
Genki Nagano out, there would be no real competition for
Johann Schwietzer as Hwang won a free-kick several yards from the head of the Love Match penalty area about the 82nd minute, but it wouldn't prevent the Swiss defender from sticking it home, and right through the defensive wall at that. Hwang would not be spared Duan's justice for that, and the famously hands-on forward was booked for a very late tackle on Woo Jun Feng on his next involvement.
Even that was not the end as
Chad Thach took over after Al Chan took both him and
Phillip Nagata out in a mutual wipeout on a chase down the right wing, which completed the first five-goal haul in his long career.
Paulino Trindade and
Mason Glendinning would take to the field in the final minute, but it was evident that nearly all of the Birds' supporters applause, was going to just one man.
