Well Qualified
The qualifiers went well for Farmer Bunnies and Grilled International, with International first securing promotion to Division Four on Saturday night. Faroese opponents Vikings Capricorns, who topped III.10 just seven years ago, took International on with a wide 3-5-2, but went behind to
Ghanem Ben Mimoun after
Chua Jun Long's clever no-look assist in the tenth minute. Valbjørn Samuelsen narrowly escaped a sending-off after flattening
Egidius van der Duin from behind in the 22nd, only for Troels Korndal to volley Poul Nordby's unreadable pass across the box four minutes later.
The to-and-fro continued with Esmar Hendriksen's magical dribble and go-ahead goal for the Faroese followed instantly by a similar
Remond Bergervoet breakthrough in the 34th minute, which had the game remained tied at 2-2 at half-time. Macedonian star
Minür Nurettin Tütsü then replaced Bergervoet at half-time, which seemed to unlock Chua for a while; the Number 42 was somehow denied by Norwegian veteran goalkeeper Fritz Gulli 49 minutes in, but there was no saving his one-touch sidefoot eight minutes on.
Khosrov Danelyan then replaced
Phua Li Kong on the hour, with Capricorns also putting Niclas Hvítaberg on for former Faroese youth international Tómas Seyer.
It would soon be evens again as Troels Korndal picked up on Freddie Gröönholt's passing intent in the 65th, which brought the match to extra time. This turned out to be a lot less nail-biting than the fans might have thought, however, as
Khosrov Danelyan polished off a block off
Snæbjörn Sigfússon within the first three minutes, and
Leri Bezhanishvili then took advantage of a disspirited Capricorns defence to up International's advantage to 5-3.
This has Grilled International back in the fourth division after a two-year lull, and head coach
Sazwan bin Hj Muhd Salleh is eager to see what his team can do in IV.42. "The way I see it, there aren't any clear favourites with Super Red Warriors promoting, all the more with Mankenbach United entering administration. If we play our own game, we have a shot."
Farmer Bunnies defended their place in II.3 the next morning, as they saw III.15 winners FC Air Hydrous off 4-0 - although it had to be said that the visitors started with two men down for some reason.
Guan Ming Kum set the tone as he flighted a twenty-yarder past Santosh Mohanty in the 23rd minute, before
Koushan Khatibi struck first a free-kick, and then a penalty home in the 37th and 39th minutes. The second half would be filled with more distance shooting from the Buns, of which
Arun Ponnusamy's 75th minute effort was the only one that made it in.
Vishnu Tallapaka couldn't claim this as a convincing display given how FC Air Hydrous had approached the game, but he would also admit that results were paramount. "It was their right, after all. For us, the new challenge has only just begun."
