SAS Bust
Asmawi Memento
Division Five high-fliers SAS Eagles stunned Grilled with a second minute goal, and after winning their two earlier Cup rounds 6-1, that made punters all around the island sit up and take note. They could not sustain their starting energy, however, and ended up eight goals behind after the full ninety minutes.
The Eagles had 28 goals for and two against in their last five competitive matches, including a rout of Division Three club Malu United, so they had cause to believe that they could pull that feat off again. They certainly got their chance as Fredgård was lazy in clearing his lines, severely underestimating the threat of Swiss striker Gianmaria Pirruccio.
Pirruccio would not go as easy on the Swede defender, and a torrid spate of pushing saw the ball fly loose to charging midfielder Asmawi bin Raja Abdullah. Not fully believing his luck, Asmawi shielded it from Bone and rotated well to sling a grounder into the far side of goal.
That was greeted by deafening drumming from the gallery, and the Eagles immediately sought to protect that precious advantage. Grilled were showing signs of panic as they were constantly beaten back in the Eagles' final third, when
Jaan Kadak shook off his lingering illness to casually stroke in an equaliser.
Jie Siong didn't have that luxury, but produced the same result two minutes later as he brought the ball past Lum Pin Su with a simple but effective change of direction. Chilean goalkeeper Philip Kleuken closed the gap, but only left himself vulnerable to Jie Siong's calculated chip.
Jaan Kadak settled Grilled hearts as he gave his side a two-goal lead before the interval, and the hosts did not look happy at all as they trooped off at half-time. They knew that their best hope for a shock victory evaporated with Kadak's swift reply, and they found it hard going to get into forward gear again.
There was some friendly banter between the younger Grilled players and SAS Eagles' central midfielder Bogdan Olaru, who was pleasantly surprised to discover that they spoke his language, albeit with limited vocabulary. As it turned out, he admitted that he was probably no relation to Grilled's ex-Romanian trainee Dragos Olaru.
Grilled picked up where they left off, and Alcántara knocked in a penalty in short order. Pang Eng Hin, already on a yellow card, tripped up Hjortlind in the box, and while he was spared an early shower, his team still had to pay the price. Borup and Fredgård brought Grilled's total to six before the hour mark.
Kadak, on a third hat-trick in as many Cup matches, tried for glory but was well denied by Kleuken. However, with the hard bit out of the way, he somehow conspired to loosen his grip after he hit the ground. The ball took a hard bounce right into the path of Jie Siong, who automatically sent it into the net without conscious thought.
Kadak passed up a second chance when he shook his head in response to Alcántara's offer to let him take a penalty, given for blatant holding in the penalty area before a corner. Thus rebuffed, Alcántara did the job himself, and Swee Pheng popped up to lengthen his own scoring streak nine minutes from time.
The day ended badly for SAS Eagles in more ways than one, as Pirruccio fell hard on his knee after a push from Bona that went unseen by the match officials. It was reported to warrant a month's layoff, which will come as a huge blow to his club.
