Waves At Nolanga
Chia Triple
An early friendly in South Glamorgan, Wales pitted Grilled Birds against III.5 favourites Racing Nolanga 95, and had the Birds score six before the hosts got a belated consolation goal.
Chia Kwang Tse was a revelation in the central playmaking role, as he found a hat-trick while pulling the strings in midfield as his main job.
That said, other than South Korean national prospect Yongmoon Kang and dissatisfied local star William Price, youngsters Darren Grenholm and Peter Workman would prove less than ample competition for Chia and his fellows. Guatemalan captain José Rafael Caraballo did have the advantage over
Virgil Huang on the flank, but the quality difference was again apparent in attack, with
Chad Thach the clear standout amongst the trainees.
Having soon secured the bulk of possession, Grilled spent the first ten minutes casually probing the opposition backline, before
Hwang Teck Fu got serious with a determined charge from thirty yards out, that the teenaged Andras Sutton could barely head off. The resulting scorcher was tipped to a corner by homegrown goalkeeper David Lodwick, and in turn headed clear by the defence. The hardworking
Mason Glendinning retrieved it, however, and
Kendell El Khateeb then set
Chia Kwang Tse up for the tap-in.
There would be little variation in the direction of the match as the Birds continued to sit on the ball, mostly with Chia directing, but deep defending from the hosts meant that a flash of inspiration by
Chad Thach was required for
Mason Glendinning's strike in the 30th minute. This was followed by a pair of goals about the 36th, with
Chia Kwang Tse's drive quickly matched by
Mohd Marzuki Khairul's effort, from a creative flick by
Zaini Zainuddin Junaidi.
It did get more competitive right before the half-time break, with teenager Darren Teague giving
Damian Hutter the run-around with four minutes to go. This put him on one-on-one against Japanese custodian
Dahan Bok, who was perhaps fortunate that Teague's strike went straight at him. Grilled's youth then came through too as the heavily-worked
Virgil Huang tried his luck with a flat lob from way out, and it wasn't that far off!
The second half restarted off the boot of Slovakian youngster Tadeáš Kontrík, who would continue to be starved of chances with Grilled resuming their offensive. Adam Bateman stepped up a little too early in the 64th minute on the free-kick from Andras Sutton's foul, which allowed
Damian Hutter room to get behind to hit a volley. Lodwick's quick hands again blocked it aside, and
Chad Thach was sufficiently distracted by Sutton to put the follow-up wide.
There was no preventing Chia from completing his hat-trick four minutes later, though, as
Mohsen El Khateeb's floated free-kick was knocked down by his brother Kendell for his senior, who only had to get it on target. Kendell would be taken off for
Paulino Trindade shortly afterwards despite his contribution, and the delayed throw-in had
Zaini Zainuddin Junaidi play
Mason Glendinning inside, only for the latter to be hustled off the ball by the backtracking Peter Workman.
The Grilled attack was not done just yet, with centre forward
Chad Thach in particular still obviously angling for a goal. He got it in the 74th minute, and mostly through his own input too as he pressed the off-balance Bateman, who had just received an overhit backpass from his midfield. The defender would in turn try to feint a turn, but this was predicted by the experienced Thach, who duly nicked the ball and scored the Birds' sixth goal.
Racing Nolanga 95 did probably deserve something for their toil here, and their fans at the U95 Arena would finally have their moment, five minutes after Thach's strike. Adam Bateman made a very rare foray into the Grilled half as Darren Grenholm flew down the right wing after shaking
Zaini Zainuddin Junaidi off, and this would allow him to get their consolation goal, with the Grilled defenders both converging on Tadeáš Kontrík.
