Stopped In Maldives
Grilled Birds' Supporter Week Trophy campaign got off to three straight wins, before they were taken down by Dhivehi League runners-up, FC Lakritzkaiser in a tactical contest. Black-shirted Italian VII.796 club Botte a tutti didn't pose much issues in the opener as
Hwang Teck Fu led with two in a 7-0 sweep, with Swedish III.10 favourites ÖSTERLENS PÅGAR FF then drubbed 6-2, though their Joakim Oxander and Ted Sołtyszewski showed great spirit after going four goals behind in a busy first half.
German IV.59 promotees Already Against The Next War FC were next, and Hwang was in no mood to be too pacifist, as he swung a volley past Gaetano Citterio just four minutes in. That ended 4-1 with big German centreback Helgo Maller muscling through in the 74th minute on an unlikely counterattack sprint, before
Chad Thach re-widened Grilled's lead, originally also established by
Aw Keng Chuan and then
Ananda Hettiarachchi.
FC Lakritzkaiser, twice national league and cup champions, were cut of a different cloth, and a breathless opening period had Manfred Wandeler place a sizzling riser past
Radomil Marcol in the 25th, only to be answered seven minutes later by
Chia Kwang Tse's moment of genius. Jan Preclík and Lech Grzeca had them 3-1 up before the break sadly, and Travis Dey profited from Jon Dillon's invention twenty minutes from time. By the time
Lim An Keng got another back, it was far too late.
"They played us off the pitch fair and square." the Birds Number Eight said, noting that he had not been able to find much space after replacing Chia at half-time. "Their last goal from Dillon's pass was something else altogether too, I would be cheering it if I weren't on the opposite side!"
Farmer Bunnies similarly found defeat only in their final game of the day, although they did start off more slowly with a 1-1 draw against Dutch VI.935 top seeds red canary's, with
Koushan Khatibi's 27th minute penalty equalled in the 65th minute by Kleofas Janusiak. A late
Ong Li Jing strike then had them defeat German VI.217 participants FC Phoenix München, before a 2-1 over Maldives Homegrown League V.130 club The Undertaker! that saw two Khatibi spot kicks and an Ahmed Emad consolation.
Swiss V.75 side Dynamo Karobey were then their last challenge of the day, which had the Buns matched in midfield for once. Karobey's conservative 3-5-2 admitted no chances for the first half, and it was curtains in the 50th minute when
Wee Liang Teck lost German forward Karl Heinz Rummenigge on a through ball, allowing him to grab the winner on his 23rd birthday. Bunnies' only try worth recalling would be
Guan Ming Kum's header from a corner 62 minutes in, but goalkeeper Joachim Ranger was well-placed even had it been under the bar.
Grilled International's loss came three matches in instead, as they began their campaign with a very credible 2-1 result against Tokyo's FC Gotanda Gunners, who had been narrowly beaten by Farmer Bunnies in a friendly just two years ago. The Gunners' Singaporean affilate Galactic Eagles CF have moreover just re-promoted to Division Two, but for this day it would be
Leri Bezhanishvili and
Umut Koza to put International through after Tatsuki Yukawa's delicate chip right before half-time.
English Homegrown League V.6 side LQH Shrimpers put up somewhat less resistance with
Chua Jun Long and
Etienne Binder joining the previous scorers in a 4-1 victory, before German VII.932 outfit effzeh colonia nippes 1948 took International down a peg with spirited defending towards 3-1. International would dust themselves off to reverse the scoreline against Italian V.137 newcomers FC Bovisangeles, as
Khosrov Danelyan distinguished himself with a worthy brace.
