International's Day
Long the kooky kid brother of the Grilled stable, Grilled International would finally outdo the rather more-established Birds and Buns this time, as they were the only among the trio to achieve silverware this season. It might only be a Division Six title, but head coach
Tajit bin Mohd was certain that it was a harbinger of far grander achievements.
In a sporting acknowledgement towards that end, International's award presentations would headline the customary annual dinner, with
Micky bin Kadir of course repeating his Player of the Season honour. 43 goals in two seasons is a record any striker would be proud to have, and there are no signs of the barrel-chester Bruneian slowing down.
Wang Chu Chi was the pick for the youth version, as he held off stiff competition from big-name signings
Ragib Banović and
Querubim Santos Couto. "You couldn't have told that Wang was just eighteen, from how he contributed." Tajit praised. "He definitely knows his way around a football pitch."
Islom Davlatov was Grilled Birds' POTS as he edged former winner
Cyril Künzler by the finest of margins, with
Mohammad Ramli Saliman coming third in the voting. Going by how the latter sat, lost in thought, however, there may be more to rumours of his exit, than the club is letting on.
Ee Chun Jie, now building his career with Sporting Ombrone 2017, took the junior award, although
Chan Ze Han was of course a lock-in, on pure achievement and ability. "Chan doesn't need more of these."
Hovaness Noubaryan said. "He should be looking further... Mohd Safri got the big one when he was nineteen or twenty, and really, it's not a stretch to say Chan's a comparable talent."
It was a difficult choice for the Buns as well, with
Enzo Paolo Panzarino clearly a favourite due to his scoring exploits. That second wind, and international games for Tham and Kwek, was however eventually overlooked in favour of
Aswad Mohd Jafni.
"Many of our players have had excellent seasons, and my only regret was that they just fell short in the biggest games."
Sikong Darong announced. "It was very hard to pick out just one of them, but when it came down to that, Aswad's sheer consistency was tops."
Among the younger set in the Rancher Rabbits, winger Lim Ming Chun stood out amongst his peers, and his subsequent deeds with former Coppa Appennini VII Serie winners Fly Hannover in Italy only confirmed his quality. "He's well on his way to becoming a regular, so I hear." Sikong added. "And it's nothing less than he deserves."
