Mee Too Thick
Grilled Birds would be undefeated on the second day of the Supporter Week Trophy with two draws and a win, starting with a 3-3 versus Belgian luminaries FC Soltermee. The V.86 champions are something of a fallen giant with three national cups under their belt, and there was much of that proud history in a very practised 5-3-2.
Gústav Thoroddsen had his work cut out for him dragging the Birds back from a two goal deficit, leaving
Joe Reece to save the point in stoppage time, as Kuurt Delattre's 61st minute stunner looked like the winner.
Swedish III.33 side United World Stars were then put down 1-3 with
Federico Parada opening before Thoroddsen and Reece again, as Mihai Buciuman claimed a consolation in the last minute, after a second James Wahlberg yellow had reduced the Stars to ten men. Romanian V.95 challengers Arsenal Iasi then made the most of loose Grilled defending to take after FC Soltermee in going 2-0, only for Grilled to storm back in the second half with Chia, Lim, Parada and a subbed-in
Evandro La Face steamrolling Iasi.
That had the Birds get overly puffed up, and before they knew it, Iasi were back level with Noel Copeland and then former Chinese U-20 striker Su Jingsong beating Germanakos within a minute of each other.
Brian Reddy could not control his frustration and kicked over the corner flag at Su's goal after allowing the cross in, for which he was duly carded.
The Buns would fail to score at all, as they endured two goalless games in succession. San Marino III.8 club Briganti Revolution matched them for conservatism, allowing only a handful of half-baked counters, and the highlight of that game by far was
Louis Lee taking on both Devonte Mo and Matteo Bellinvia at the same time at the end of the first half, after being shoved aside from the ball by the former. The fracas would be ended by all three being booked, but still remaining on the pitch.
It was Farmer Bunnies to demonstrate bad behaviour against Dutch VI.338 team Real Renétje, with
Lee Yau Tong,
Louis Lee and
Lim Guang Qiang all receiving yellows within the first half-hour or so. They would be fortunate that Jon van 't Schip's failed to notice Rikkert Gerkens' header falling to him just a few yards out, on their last-minute corner opportunity.
H.I. V.231 favourites Ghisa United International then dealt the Buns their only defeat, and it wasn't easy either, with Àlex Olivert grabbing the winner after
Gilberto Sorondo couldn't hold onto the ball from a corner, with ten minutes left. The goalkeeper would later blame the pouring rain for the mistake, but it was of course immaterial to the final result.
Grilled International enjoyed the most success of the day with two wins and a draw, with Swedish V.158 side Beeswarm FC falling 1-2 after going ahead through Adonis Bratovič. International had missed a host of chances, partly due to Hadeel Acho's fast hands, before that, but
Safari bin Hj Jali and then
Mohsen Zeynali did enough for full points.
It would then be 4-0 against Belgian VI.180 club tConvent, as
Chua Jun Long reprised his exceptional league form, following
Umut Koza's near miss from a header off a corner. Koza would get his goal in the 31st minute, after
Egidius van der Duin had volleyed stylishly home in the 13th, and
Remond Bergervoet lit up a quiet second half with his reckless sprint onto a through ball 71 minutes in. Replays suggested that he might have hauled Aris Andriopoulos back by the collar to get to that, but the goal stood.
International closed their day with a 2-2 draw with Germany's Wiesedermeer, as the just-promoted VI.948 member led twice through former Indonesian youth international forward Nurochman Guritno, who somehow failed to claim his hat-trick against an inadequate defensive line. Chua and then Koza answered each time, with
Remond Bergervoet coming close to a dramatic winner in the 83rd minute.
