Draggen Rage
Grilled Birds kicked off the Trophy of Legends against two-time Allsvenskan and once Swedish Cup winners Inter Draggen, who have just finished second in IIp on their way back to the top. It ended poorly for the Birds as Bosnian hotshot Bogdan Vukić collected a brace in a 4-1 hiding, after having just missed out on the league Golden Boot to Pub IS's Bengt-Eric Larsson.
Ha Qicai provided Grilled's consolation in the 54th minute from a clever
Hwang Teck Fu setup wide left.
It then got a lot better for Grilled as they hammered six past Rome-based Alba Fregene without reply, as the Italian Division Six side had to start with two men short after visa issues.
Lim An Keng threatened a hat-trick, but had to settle for two together with Hwang. Another 5-4 victory then materialized against the red-shirted Spanish IV.42 opponents HR Fútbol Club, which had Lim again score two - only to be outdone by Enrique Maura's first-half hat-trick.
That left Grilled Birds in 2003rd position at the end of the three matches, with
Tian Yonghang upbeat about the competition. "Who knows? The lads are just enjoying themselves out there!"
Farmer Bunnies lost their first two matches by the odd goal, with Argentine V.68 side Delivery de Patadas FC first riding on Pablo Daniel Cappelleti's breakneck pace and then assist for Grácio Brandão Santos, and German V.255 champions Färöer Eagles then having Burjet Foniqi convert from the spot, following an inadvertent handball from
Lee Yau Tong just inside the penalty area.
They would then salvage a 3-0 result versus Portuguese VI.531 side Unidos Louredo, who have just promoted to Division Five after nine straight wins. Louredo weren't taking the tournament too seriously, so it looked, with Chinese forward Wang Pingxi their only big name out there. This had
Prakash Bhujbal strike twice in the last nine minutes, after
Ong Li Jing somehow managed to get himself sent off after losing his temper. With this, the Buns are in 1058th in the Heroes of 2014 Trophy.
Grilled International fared little better with two losses too, with their first a narrow 2-3 against Italian VI.313 visitors Stiff Little Fingers.
Egidius van der Duin and
Sazwan bin Hj Muhd Salleh had International sitting pretty by half-time, but their resolve slowly crumbled, and Khidyr Ganbold's second goal coming in added time won it sensationally for Fingers. There would be a mass altercation following that goal as several International players thought Ganbold had unfairly shoved
Sazwan bin Hj Muhd Salleh aside in his final run, and it concluded with their Thai defender Charnchai Thongweejid dismissed for throwing hands.
International recovered with an 8-0 steamrolling of another Italian club, VI.201 champs Kala Namak. Their open 3-5-2 was manifestly unsuited to containing International's central attack, and
Snæbjörn Sigfússon got a hat-trick - including two penalties - as Namak fouled freely. A 1-5 loss to English Division Two team FC Sort the Boiz followed, as last season's Craig Wozniak Cup holders stormed back following a Sigfússon opener. Former São Tomé e Príncipe international Manuel Sá hit a brace, as International ended the day in 1800th position.
Granted, International also had their final fixture in the SANA GOLD CUP to handle, as they were eliminated after finishing third in Group F. French VI.385 outfit FC Fourrass edged them 4-3 through a last-gasp Jean-Claude Labeau winner, to crush International's hopes after the previous week's 4-0 over Belize Division Four entrants Beliezinge United. The opening game had São Tomé III.4 runners-up Toro Loco Reloaded beat Grilled International down 5-1 finishing with a Elbio Héctor Perez de Eulate double, and they would rightly top the group after wiping Beliezinge United 5-0.
