Following In Footsteps
Farmer Bunnies and Grilled International could not help but be buoyed by the Birds' Singapore Cup victory, which was reflected in their raised friendly output following that. The Buns were over in the Democratic Republic of Congo, hosted by III.2 club Mystic Force Kongo, a spinoff of Germany's - MYSTIC FORCE -.
Ibrahim Zahran Al-Maashany struck twice in his eighty minutes as Farmer Bunnies battered a largely young-and-learning Mystic selection, and trainee
Wadihan Hanafi Yusuf recorded his first goal for the club, with a simple sweep home from right in front of goal.
Billy Camperio completed the 4-0 later on, but to Buns head coach
Dalibor Kostadinović, it was difficult to hide that he had some very difficult decisions ahead of him. "We're at a crossroads." he explained. "To be entirely honest, the national squad handlers of
Djoko Tambusai and
Aitykul Zaripbekov have been inquiring as to our training strategy, and we won't be able to accommodate everybody for much longer. There will have to be a big transition, and I urge the fans to understand."
Grilled International went five better in their 9-0 takedown of Belize's Büchert FC, as the newly-founded Third Division franchise of Norway's Büchert Boldklub were clearly a work in progress. Head coach Anders Lysne, seconded from their parent club, had definitely been busy in the transfer market with 74 moves to his name in half a season already, but most have not exactly stuck, and Büchert FC have managed just the one win in eight league rounds thus far.
Lysne has publicly put faith in a long-term building plan, and International were not about to be shy in partaking of their resulting hospitality;
Tibor Atzenhain and
Safari bin Hj Jali reaped two goals each in a one-way assault, and
Abdul Hamid bin Hj Ali Timbang contributed a slicing goal too, before having to be taken off in the 29th minute for a cramped thigh. Atzenhain might have had his hat-trick in injury time too, but Jermaine James reached his bending free-kick.
Hardi bin Besar, who thus closed the scoring off with a neat chip in the 78th minute, didn't deny that the Birds had been a huge inspiration. "Man, I was on the edge of my seat throughout, watching from Brunei. Maybe, just maybe, it'll be our turn one day?"
