Waldemar Tames Sompion
For the later friendlies, Farmer Bunnies faced down F.K. APATIN (Engleska) in Manchester, England on Sunday night, and claimed a 3-0 win from the recent VI.44 expansion of Serbia's F.K. APATIN. Left winger
Muhd bin Irwan Ali was first to an early
Boyd Nguyen cross in the second minute, with there nearly being a repeat in the 28th.
Arun Ponnusamy then volleyed home after eight minutes, with
Ong Li Jing driving a third into Shawn Kanton's far bottom corner after 74 minutes.
Veteran defender
Wee Liang Teck, who had watched most of the game from the bench before coming on in the final minutes, called out longtime reserve
Boyd Nguyen for his industry. "He was our hardest worker here, and even his yellow card was taking one for the team."
Before that, Grilled International eked out a 2-1 result at Finnish VI.606 champions Sompion pulahdus, as Polish star
Waldemar Gołata found a brace by the 62nd minute. Rasmus Lehtoranta appeared to have him covered for the second, but Gołata somehow got a touch on the deflected free-kick. Trainee Niku Tomperi put Ilkka Pilke through for the consolation in the 76th minute, but it was Samuli Rosnell who had to block
Ghanem Ben Mimoun's diving header in added time.
International will be looking to dominate in H.I. V.52 after being relegated, with the other seven clubs in the league all semi-professional at best. As for their former H.I. IV.42, both F.C.ITACA and Boa Vista Futebol Clube kept their places after thrashing their qualifier challengers, with Fc Mighty Ducks and Outra vez BONS Internacional replacing International and Trotsky Vengaran F.C.. Inaugural Hattrick International champions AlphaCentauri then replaced FC Sunny Tummy, which did leave the International players with some regret at not being able to stay up.
"They would have been a huge draw to Burung." head coach
Sazwan bin Hj Muhd Salleh sighed. "All we can do is to work our way back up - and frankly, I'm fairly confident of that."
The Buns may have an easier way back into Division Two too, as Controlar were replaced by an in-administration Toa Payoh Athletic. Scorpion Squad dropped out for the newly-formed Woodlands Wanderers after deliberations from the league administrators, with Ang Mo Kio's Ouhuang being the only new face of real note for the coming campaign.
As for Grilled Birds, they would take CE Sindiket 07's spot in the S-League, and will face Padstow Pirates in an opener that should break at least one of two double-digit winning streaks. Bot Team FC and Arrogancae kept their memberships with wins against Offshore Haven and frunzelite respectively, proof that breaking into this exclusive club is far easier said than done.
The club that all are measuring themselves against would however have to be FC Marttaliitto, who have just defended their national title. "It doesn't seem all that long ago that we were facing off against them." Birds head coach
Dan Alstani said. "Seeing as they did it right after promotion, we can do it too!"
Back in II.2, Laughing Kookaburras retained their position as new Polish boss Bonifacy Hartman took the helm, by crushing III.12 challengers SG Inferno 11-0 - though it has to be said that Inferno had not brought their best to the fray. Marine Parade Kings scored twice early to deny Chokos, with ArSenal U21 and SK28 making prompt returns to the second division.
