Overdogs From Behind
The manner of victory has further restored fans' faith in the team, going by their comments afterwards, but
Djan Bacelar bemoaned their being drawn against the CoCoTeaTree Islanders in the next round, after the Islanders had been eliminated from the main cup by Carpmael Rovers.
"I can see us having problems with their unorthodox tactics." Bacelar mused. "A lot will rest on the hands of
Valentin Batâr for that game. Then again, we should be back at full health by then, touch wood, and
Kalki Parvathaneni can cause some damage if he keeps his mind on getting in behind."
The head coach's patience with
Islom Davlatov appears to be running out, however, despite having frequently defended the distinctly-average output of the S$11 million man previously. "Islom should think very hard about what he can bring to the table, when he sits out on Sunday. He's good, we all know that, but he can deliver so much more."
Farmer Bunnies would do it the hard way in their 3-2 extra-time edging of Division Two challengers Singapore Big Dogs, who had Quek Han Eng and Alistair Xiao put them two up in the space of as many minutes, midway through the first half.
Abderahim Bentellis' miss was their only shot of note till half-time, to the evident worry of the Buns' support.
The second half soon turned their way, though, and a blocked chip from Manan Dahlan soon became a
Tham Leng Teck goal at the other end. The Dogs then tried not to play into Farmer Bunnies' paws by keeping the ball, but
Wong Ting Yew blasted in the equaliser in the 74th minute anyhow, before
Enzo Paolo Panzarino again picked his moment exquisitely.
"I'm really not sure how he does it." substitute midfielder
Llamil Vener, who injected some much-needed urgency after coming on in the 60th, said. "Half-chance, out of nowhere... you just knew it was going in, coming from Enzo."
The Buns now have to face former Singapore Cup winners FC Barca Singapore in the next round, and while the players are wary of the S-League club,
Vishnu Tallapaka saw no cause to accord them too much respect.
"It's eleven men against eleven men on the day, and I'm not sure if Barca will have their full focus on the match - because we surely will."
It was an eventful four-all friendly draw in Bosnia for Grilled International, with defender
Yao Erguo finding their first and last goals against Division Four hosts Zivotinje. Yao might even have won it after substitute
Hesky Atmanegara slid a through ball to him as his first act, but Marko Židić made the save.
