N & N
Grilled Birds closed their latest Supporter Week Trophy run at 17 points from five wins and two draws and +13 goals, finishing 6375th of 24568 entrants - a respectable if not remarkable placing. This third and final day started with two wins, the first against Chilean IV.44 toppers Andino F.C., who have a Copa de Cartón under their belt. Jose Manuel Antúnez was a constant threat and came close to a treble, but the Birds answered each of his goals twice over, first through Chia and Lim, and then Hwang and Trindade.
Romanian V.221 side Politehnica Stiinta Timişoara were next, and had Dan-Radu Şoancă's first-minute wizardry matched by
Lim An Keng's curler, seconds from the restart. It ended 5-2 with
Mohd Marzuki Khairul scoring either side of half-time, and midfielder Vasile Vizureanu pulling another back in the 76th minute. The black-clad Ano Crew of the Polish IV.33 were too strong, however, as fresh from lifting the Rubinowy Puchar Drugiej Szansy, they would outscore Grilled 5-3 despite
Raúl Himadas's 25th minute penalty to tie it up.
Tian Yonghang refused to put the defeat on
Cameron Law's head, despite the reserve custodian making a couple of glaring mistakes after being trialled in this final fixture. "The whole team was responsible, there was very little tracking back in the last twenty minutes for one. I understand that everybody's exhausted at the end of a long season, but these are the signs that separate future champions from the also-rans."
The same two wins and a loss had Farmer Bunnies wind up 13590th on a balanced 4-2-4 and -2 goals, as they first ran up three goals against Kyoto-based Japanese IV.48 participants CF Vin. Kazuma Shimizu was off target from an incisive 17th minute through ball, and after
Amaya Ravula forced it in at point black in the 26th minute,
Arturo Rosano put a penalty and then a free-kick past goalkeeper Kazuyoshi Fukumoto.
Belgian VI.892 side Racing Cupers then defeated the Buns 2-1 with young Spanish winger Aliecer Sánchez-Bedoya thriving on the unexpected with a brace, despite Ravula's late consolation.
Arturo Rosano would then find the game's only goal versus Polish VI.812 club ECHO WARSZAWA in the tenth game, which had them chasing shadows for the remaining 81 minutes and change.
Grilled International lost two of their matches to coincidentally end with exactly the same 4-2-4 record and -2 goal difference as the Buns, but were higher at 12901th due to the order in which the results were achieved, as well as their far higher goals count of 34. Five of those came in a 5-3 win over twice Japanese Challenger Cup holders FC Futtsu United, as the III.12 representatives fell to an inspired
Umut Koza, though Italian forward Alberto Regoli match his two goals.
Romanian V.187 favourites FC Bucu then taught International a lesson with a 4-0 tonking born of stringent defence - and the deadly finishing of star striker Sorin Sebastian. Norwegian IV.6 club F.C. Christiania then inflicted a 3-5 loss on the Brunei side, as
Hardi bin Besar's renaissance was overshadowed by their French striker Justin Ras.