Hilderinc Football Club

Still feeling the effect of four weeks ago, and memories still fresh in the minds, Hilderinc FC were once again pitted against Fighting Cocks FC, now perennial rivals who have following each other in the ESPZEN, MSC Summer Cup, and now in the Equatorial Football League.

Having endured one of their worst games in their history at the hands of the same opponents, the Blacks were determined to give a better account of themselves, and because of the ongoing injury and unavailabilities plighting the Club, the Hilderincs went against their current policy and included four debutants without training minutes under their belt, and decision taken out of dire necessity rather than holding onto an inflexible ideal.

Their determination was apparent from the get-go as the Blacks were better off the block as supposed to their inapt start a month ago when they were sixes and sevens right from the beginning.

However, for all the willpower, the Hilderincs fell behind within 5mins under familiar circumstances, a frustrating repeat of events that seems to persist without abatement.

But unlike the recent past, the Hilderincs hit back almost immediately as they drew level within 2mins of going behind when Anthony Ferraccu restored parity from a penalty kick after he was upended by the Fighting Cocks keeper, though any advantage played who have seen the forward improvise a headed even while one the ground.

With the Carlos Centeno and Pablo Cuesta giving much needed steel in the heart of the midfield, the Spanish duo were at base of all the good work the Hilderincs were producing as they showed that they can indeed stand toe to toe with their opponents who have had the bragging rights in recent times, this despite the fact that the Vietnamese side did have a lion’s share of the foray into the Blacks’ final third, so going into the halfway point break of the first half level on score and endeavour was a pleasant take.

The resumption from the water break almost provided an immediate yield when Carlos Centeno was unfortunate to see this shot drifted wide of the post inside the opening minute of the restart.

But the lack of depth in the squad was brought to the fore when the Blacks went behind at the half an hour mark, almost as soon as a change in personnel was made, and compounding the discomfort, the Hilderincs were further adrift with just minutes left in the first period.

However, as it was earlier, the Blacks hit back within two minutes with another penalty, this time through Ian Morris reducing the disadvantage with the last kick of the half.

If there was any resolve push for a leveler, it quickly dissipated in the opening 7 minutes of restart, first after the Hilderincs showed their inexperience in defending a freekick, and then, unforgivably, shooting themselves in the foot within a minute of the kickoff.

This utterly infuriating, as this happened in almost identical fashion a week ago, leaving the Blacks trailing 5-2 in an absolutely needless and foolish manner.

The difficult task was made even more untenable only three minutes later when the Hilderincs were reduced to ten men when Yua Kian was given his marching orders for a reckless elbow, bringing a speedy end to his debut after only ten minutes.

Huffing with a man down, the Blacks found new resolve in the final twenty minutes when they revert to the original lineup, minus one, and reduced the deficit further when Anthony Ferraccu secure his brace, with yet another penalty, the third in the day.

However, with so much self-infliction, there was only so much the Hilderincs could do, and the sixth for the opponents made the reading harsher for the Blacks, who were yet again undone by their own unraveling.

Equatorial Football League QD 1

Hilderinc FC 3 : Fighting Cocks 6

Goals: Anthony Ferraccu 8’ (Pen), 71’ (Pen), Ian Morris 45’ (Pen)

MOM: Sergey Darovskikh

Yellow Card: Ian Morris

Red Card: Yua Kian

Starting Line-up

1. Jose Kasijo

2. Sean Rajah

3. Nicholas Ledenmark

4. Sergey Darovskikh

5. Fahmy “Ollie” Barker

6. Pablo Cuesta

7. Carlos Centeno

8. Basil Chai

9. Anthony Ferraccu

10. Ian Morris

11. Mervyn Tan

Substitutes

12. Basil Al Barr

13. Danzal Han

14. Tan Euren

15. Truong Chi Duc

16. Yue Kian

A HFC Media Publication