In From All Directions
Marzuki Showstopper
Midweek brought Grilled Birds to Ireland to play just-relegated Irish Premier club 3Dimaina, who will now be looking to return from II.4. They moreover have three national Emerald Challenger Cups under their belt, the latest one from last season, if with young Luxembourg player-coach Fern Schmit reportedly not satisfied with his transfer budget. Their last major purchase had been former Ukraine U-20 goalkeeper Mykhailo Petrashevskiy for close to S$7.5 million over a year back, and he would be left on the bench with 19 year-old trainee Owen Forbes in goal for 3Dimaina today.
Grilled were not going all out either as reserve goalie
Dahan Bok featured along with
Damian Hutter and
Mohsen El Khateeb in defence, but there would be some big names out there too, foremost amongst them Irish internationals and club icons Alexey Adams and Theo Carsley for the hosts. Madagascar national fullback Feno Rafelambolasoa made for an intriguing matchup against
Fu Wenlong, with Schmit captaining the side personally from leftback.
Well, it would be Fu to draw first blood in that duel, with Rafelambolasoa allowing him to run unimpeded into the box as
Lim An Keng advanced, to his regret. The stadium clock showed but four minutes as Lim played the ball into space, and Fu demonstrated good awareness to be first to it by a toe - which was enough to poke it past the slow-reacting Forbes.
The Birds then continued laying the pressure on, with 3Dimaina forced on the defensive, which was not exactly their strong suit.
Mohd Marzuki Khairul's excellent day started with his first goal from a delicate lob in the seventh minute, after which 18 year-old
Zaini Zainuddin Junaidi got his fierce drive on target thirteen minutes in. Zaini had been mostly overshadowed by Adams before that, granted, but he really stood up when it counted!
3Dimaina then regained some composure and started to look threatening in spurts, but it was Marzuki who made the most of a minute slip by Basler half an hour in, to steal the ball for Grilled's fourth. The hosts then pushed back hard, and János Istvan banged it in after
Dahan Bok was unable to hold on to Theo Carsley's powerful header in the 32nd. Custodio Farrés should have gotten another back two minutes later, but
Mohsen El Khateeb was there with an outstretched leg after the shot had gotten past Bok.
A double substitution was ordered for the Birds at half-time, as
Zaini Zainuddin Junaidi and
Mason Glendinning went off for
Kendell El Khateeb and
Virgil Huang. This was probably warranted in the latter case at least, with Glendinning looking distracted through much of his stint. Huang wasted no time in making himself a downright nuisance as Fu floated a free-kick inside in the 48th minute, which had
Lim An Keng profit for 5-1.
The home fans were not about to stop enjoying themselves regardless of what was happening on the pitch, and they would have more to cheer about in the 59th minute, after a solid strike from
Mohsen El Khateeb was plucked out of the air by an acrobatic Owen Forbes. The long goal-kick was just what Rafelambolasoa ordered, and he would get his own back on Fu by leaving the Grilled man in the dust, and reducing their lead with a slick feint to get past
Dahan Bok.
Hein Thiha Pyae Ko would be booked for blatant shirt-tugging on János Istvan as the striker struggled to get into position, but this would soon be forgotten as Grilled Birds resumed the offensive.
Hisham Zubari swopped positions with
Paulino Trindade to overload Schmit in getting Grilled's sixth goal in the 64th minute, before
Mohd Marzuki Khairul completed his hat-trick with an absolute banger from fifteen yards, some six minutes on.
The 3Dimaina supporters saw the artistry in that to their credit, and in any case they soon had their third goal to celebrate, as Custodio Farrés found an inch-perfect assist for debuting teenager Michael Muckian, who had only to put his foot out. It could have gotten even better for the seventeen year-old as he broke through on a frantic dribble on the kick-off return, but was slightly off with his curler to the back post.
