Precautions Taken
Perhaps the biggest takeway from Grilled's friendly was the continued absence of
Moey Xin Seng, who didn't turn up at Lucas Stadium despite confirmed to have been on the plane.
Hovaness Noubaryan would clarify his condition only after the match.
"Moey was pencilled in to start today, actually, but after consultation with the team doctor, we decided to give him a few more days to fully recuperate." the head coach said. "And going by how scrappy that first half was, it was probably for the best."
Another key player would be lost to injury, as Farmer Bunnies saw
Vivian Grubenmann stretchered off in the 23rd minute of their Sapphire Challenger Cup contest against Sim(TM). Both he and big Greek centreback Kostas Stathopoulos went for Dario Škoro's sudden lob forward, and despite Grubenmann clearly first to it, Stathopoulos wasn't pulling out, and clattered heavily onto the goalie's left foot.
Stathopoulos would be sent off for that as
Rashid Nasir al Din was entrusted with the gloves, and the trusty
Enzo Paolo Panzarino gave the Buns the lead after 31 minutes. With
Aswad Mohd Jafni having Aleksander Hoffa in his pocket, Sim(TM) had to look elsewhere for goals, and Émile Ogoubihi equalised in the 58th.
Ibrahim Zahran Al-Maashany would find the winner thereafter, and he had
Sofian Azfar's eye for a long pass to thank for that.
This would set the Buns up against Yew Tea in the next round, but
Sikong Darong had more pressing matters on his mind, as he roundly denounced the challenge on Grubenmann.
"That deserves a long ban!" the Bunnies head coach ranted. "It could well have ended Vivian's career, and to make it worse, the guy had no hope of winning the ball. Totally unacceptable!"
Grilled International's five-match winning streak came to an end against Spain's Ht Club Bierzo earlier, despite
Micky bin Kadir finding his eleventh goal of the season, by pushing his way to
Soo Kiong Yau's blocked penalty take. Heinz Pelletier's 32nd minute strike on the counter would be enough, as Bierzo sat on their defence after that.