Onwards To Glory
The Birds made the knockout stage of the Supporter Week Trophy for the second time in their history, as they won their last three games to finish 45th of over 24000 teams in the Swiss tourney reckoning. This involved winning their final three matches, given their loss to tianying, and they began by wiping Chilean Division Four opponents Los Intratables F.C. by three goals to nil.
That also made the seventh Trophy match in a row that
Moey Xin Seng had scored in, with the abdication of his captaincy to
Chan Ze Han for the duration of the tournament seemingly releasing him to express himself. Alas, this streak would finally end against Danish second division club Freja Østerbro, whose midfielder Frands Vangsgaard gave them the lead twice - only to be overrun 5-2 with braces from
Kalle ter Berg and
Chu Xin Lee.
It effectively came down to a duel with Canadian II.3 club F.C. Tcheu for qualification, and the Canucks would display much of the same tenacity that Grilled had in their cup final, as they equalized thrice in the first half - the first two from
Bernie Egan, and then from
Moey Xin Seng's sweet volley off a Ter Berg cross. Serpin's minor tactical adjustments for a narrower formation would pay off, thankfully, and there would be no further coming back from Ter Berg's 52nd minute effort from the left. The knockout draw would then pit Grilled against Maldives top flight club World Marbles Federation, forebodingly ranked as high as third globally, by the Hattrick Power Rating.
Also, Sarcastic Fringeheads would outdo the Birds slightly by placing 44th, after seasons of sitting the tournament out, and a couple of good if unremarkable finishes. "They seem to have had their competitive spirit sparked." Grilled goalkeeper
Massoud Dob remarked. "I would have expected no less."
There was nothing quite so magnificent for the Buns and International, as Farmer Bunnies ended in 6939th place, with a 5-2-3 record. They would start the third day off with a 2-0 win over Belgian H.I. fifth divisioners Uugspeile VV, courtesy of a
Ibrahim Zahran Al-Maashany double. A Jan Bjarne Schöpe strike was then the difference at Romanian IV.20 side Jenibilii, before the Buns closed on a high note with a 3-1 victory against Polish Division Four outfit FC Feta Club.
International would not enjoy even that, as they had to settle for a smack-average 5-0-5 records, which put them at 11047th. Their only win of the day would be hard fought too, with Ashburton United of the English fifth division nearly tying it at the death - though there was something to be said about
Tibor Atzenhain's pair of excellent finishes, in this 4-3 result.
A thumping by German sixth division outfit toposna would be next, with
Ragib Banović's 33rd minute scrambled goal being International's only answer, which would be immediately cancelled by Redlof Karr to boot. They then went down 1-2 to Swedish Division Four promotees Söder26, with
Wang Chu Chi earning their consolation in the very last minute, through an admittedly well-worked free-kick sequence.
