Rest At Last
The three clubs staggered through the final day of the Supporter Week Trophy group stages, with Grilled Birds kicking off with a 3-2 come-from-behind win over Spanish sixth division Mister Forzudo United.
Cyril Künzler answered Ramon Arimany from a free-kick, and fed
Chan Ze Han for the next equaliser.
Florus Romijn nodded in the winner, to cap an outstanding game for the wingers.
They then avenged Grilled International's previous 0-4 defeat to Dortmunder Ravers by beating them in a 6-3 thriller, that saw
Chan Ze Han distinguish himself with a late brace. It would have been far worse for the Ravers but for Arndt Biermeier, who struck twice while somehow covering Romijn into the bargain. It then all went south against Nigerian Division Two club Lokomotive Lagos, though, as the Birds collapsed 0-6, as young Lithuanian forward Algirdas Lionis came out with four goals from open play.
Grilled head coach
Djan Bacelar appeared distracted during that match as he stayed on the phone in the dugout, which might have to do with the pressure piling onto him from back home. "Honestly, I've not seen progress the last few seasons, and he's not even motivating the players nowadays." disgruntled supporter Roy Tan, 41, grumbled.
Farmer Bunnies' major limitations were badly exposed today, as a tournament that they had begun so brightly, spluttered out with a draw, two losses, and perhaps more concerning, zero goals. Bonk IS (Swedish Division Three) and G.A.D.I (Italian Division Six) gave classes on how to handle the Buns, recording 3-0 wins as Farmer failed to threaten miserably. While the defence got their act back together against French fifth division AS trumeau, it was the same story up front, although
Enzo Paolo Panzarino could rightly blame the woodwork this time as it ended nil-all.
This turnaround in their fortunes had Buns head coach
Sikong Darong shaking his head from the sidelines, and news from the grapevine is that he has pinned it on the strikers.
"Let's be honest,
Abderahim Bentellis and
Liderhan Kadyr have been disappointing in their own ways." television pundit Teo Ming Ren asserted on a local programme. "They've been brought in for their goals, but it's still been Panzarino who's been doing all the heavy lifting."
Grilled International would rise through the day, though they had to set out from a low point, a 0-4 loss to former Major League side Sandite FC. While they had fallen through the ranks, the Oklahoma favourites nevertheless outhustled a tame-looking International, who were intimidated into pointless pops from afar.
Osertz Indurain then notched a consolation in a 1-3 defeat to Austrian Division Five FC Serfaus, who scored theirs early, and then defended their lead successfully. Indurain would again come good, this time together with
László Kammer and
Micky bin Kadir, as International ended on a high note with a 3-0 victory over Italian Division Eight side Real negra.
"Now,
that was a long season."
Abdul Hamid bin Hj Ali Timbang puffed.
