Eagles Blitz Birds
Triple Whammy
Grilled Birds only had themselves to blame for commiting two cardinal sins - Firstly, not taking their chances when they came, and secondly, readily allowing the opponent to convert theirs. Grilled's backline came prepared after live practice in Portugal midweek, with
Shen Kek-Tjiang deployed as an attacking central defender in an interesting tactical move by Bakunin. Grilled dominated the early proceedings, with
Asher Stanton a foot away from stunning the Eagles in their own nest after seven minutes. Aussie Ngake Adkins dived just quickly enough to prod the ball wide. A howler by Adkins nearly cast him a villian later on, as he miscued a clearance straight to Stanton who was retreating after a failed attack. Adkins spared himself blushes when he fearlessly charged Stanton, managing to unsettle Stanton enough for his defence to bail him out. Stanton was visibly angry at himself for that.
Grilled continued the second half much in the same vein, with
Ma Dai-Lin setting up Noor Yadah for a scissors kick that flashed over the bar. The crowd appeared restless, sensing that there was not going to be a repeat of the seven-goal thriller that occured when the two sides last met. Eighteen year old wingback Chye Hong-gil gave Grilled a golden opportunity when he took down Hjortlind at the edge of the box, but Dewilde's touch deserted him this day. Grilled were preparing to hunker down to take home a point, when a whirlwind three minutes which saw Geylang strike thrice unfolded. Luo Ser-Kiat started the ball rolling with a delicate piece of cushioning which saw him gain a metre of space on Tuan-Mu, which was enough for him to hold off the despairing center-back to hit the ball on the bounce cleanly past Bao-Tam. Grilled were demoralised, though to be fair none would have anticipated Tsai Jie-Quan's effort from the corner of the box that screamed inside the near post. Jie-Quan rounded up a dismal night for Grilled when he took the ball off a sluggish Kek-Tjiang and rounded Dewilde to fully avenge their 3-4 away loss earlier in the season.
