Top Two
While the Farmer Bunnies and Grilled Birds were the top two local finishers in this edition of the Supporter Week Trophy - at 1135th and 2644th out of 22050 participants respectively - it could hardly be accounted as a notable achievement by either club, who have already turned their sights to the upcoming season.
With a knockout stage entry essentially impossible, there was little weighing on Grilled Birds as they took on Finnish III.4 former Suomen Joutsen-haastajacup holders FC Stadin Kingit, whose usual tight game didn't work out against Grilled's full-spectrum offence. Egan and Kalki struck early, before
Cyril Künzler supplied a headed goal, and then a corner for
Heng Dong Chu late. The opponents had a few promising counterattacks, but
Gilbert Webb was there each time.
Tanzanian Premier League challengers Zanzibar Devils were drawn against Grilled next, and their famous yellow shirts soon lived up to their legacy of two national cups. Their main executor would be living icon Fred Mwanyika, whose sweeper position was no obstacle to a hat-trick - if aided by a soft penalty. Spanish expat forward Song Bingyi would also showcase his technical skills, in a 5-1 thrashing.
The Birds' tourney then ended with a four-all draw against former Smaragden Beker winners Karbo Kings of the Dutch third division, who rallied magnificently from 1-3 down, to threaten a win. It took
Kalki Parvathaneni's impressive surge from the right to fend off their impetus, and supersub
Vikram Mudaliar narrowly missed a last-minue golden opportunity, from
Chan Ze Han's sneaky pass.
Farmer Bunnies clung on to the shadow of a hope for qualification, and risked as little as they could against Boca Athletik Klub (German Division Five) and A. Pelota de trapo (Bolivian Liga Profesional del Fútbol Boliviano) in turn; the Buns were rewarded with full points, as
Christophe Fouche and then
Tham Leng Teck pulled late winners each time.
Alas, even victory against former Finnish cupwinners EL KROPPA would not have been enough, and they would eventually fall 4-2 despite fine breakaway strikes by forwards
Mushtag Al-Nameeri and
Ibrahim Zahran Al-Maashany. Still, head coach
Dalibor Kostadinović remained pleased about the mental fortitude on show, in their previous wins. "We forced them to play to our strengths - let's aim to do that in the S-League too."
Grilled International would finish an average 14787th on a 2-6-2 record, which was reflected by their final-day results. Spanish Division Seven club UTQ Oficial were first up, and acquitted themselves relatively respectably, with only
Tibor Atzenhain's inventive goal separating the sides up till the 80th minute.
Safari bin Hj Jali and
Didi Reidenbach would then add some gloss from dead ball situations, for a 3-0 final score.
Next was another prolonged siege of an entrenched team, with Cameroon III.3 champs RC Kumba Lyons on the other side this time. Their failure to watch
Sazwan bin Hj Muhd Salleh closely in the 19th minute resulted in a graceful chip by the stand-in defender, and
Safari bin Hj Jali nearly embarassed Aloys Bassamagne from distance, a bit later. Lyons kept their heads, and trainee Mbilla Leuko would earn them a draw with an effective late counter.
Argentine Division Six outfit CSyD Axulfe Jrs would then overturn a 3-0 International lead to take it 4-3, a turn of events that skipper
Didi Reidenbach really, really didn't like. "Too many of our players got complacent." he complained. "It might not matter now, but it's a very bad habit to start."
