Within Touching Distance
A fine second day of the Supporter Week Trophy saw Grilled Birds pick up three wins on the trot, the first of them against colorful Spanish III.9 outfit Drag Star C.F; clad in bright yellow with red stripes, the Stars had the same devil-may-care impulse as the Birds, but were just outhustled in a straight-up clash of midfields.
Sølve Lunde's flying kick in the 22nd minute was the pick of Grilled's four goals, before Cameroon fullback Bassey Wamfor pulled one back, overlapping on the right.
American Division Two club Hot Skunkks were done in by the same margin, though the Arizona natives did take the lead through an authoritative Cody Socha finish.
Salah Kamel,
Kalki Parvathaneni and
Chan Ze Han would score as they had against Drag Star C.F as Grilled started to take over, with
Kalle ter Berg also joining in.
Former Nicaragua national champions Leon Pincharrata were up next, and the Primera División giants put up the strongest resistance of the day, with 20 year-old rising star Matías Pellegrini raising his stock with a brace. Kalki was not to be outdone and claimed one of his own, though, and despite Gastón Fernandez picking Grilled off on an injury time counterattack, it remained victory by a 5-3 margin for the Birds, which sees them in 481th place after seven rounds.
Farmer Bunnies resumed their campaign with two good 2-0 wins, one against Norwegian fifth divisioners VRA, who were perhaps too conservative in their natty purple kits. Lone forward Lauri Haapoja saw little service, as
Ibrahim Zahran Al-Maashany and then
Aitykul Zaripbekov came through for the Buns. Tennessee representatives Nashville Predators FC were next, and the American V.23 side were put down by a
Vishnu Tallapaka double.
Bulgarian Division Four club Sunny Beach offered a different kind of threat with their balanced 3-5-2, but it was their endurance that had them finally outlasting Farmer Bunnies.
Richard Agyei seemed to have single-handedly turned it around after Fernando Amigo's opener, but late goals from Avtandil Adeishvili and Darius Reed won it 3-2 for Sunny Beach. With that, the Buns are in 8659th position, with a 4-0-3 record.
In this, the Buns were left behind by an overperforming Grilled International, who more or less matched the Birds with their showings so far. If anything, they were even more spectacular, as was hinted at by their 7-5 thriller versus two-time Guam Challenger Cup winners Seiken. Two Victor Niţulescu strikes in the first half-hour appeared to presage another International disappointment, but
Osertz Indurain led them to five straight goals. Seiken then pulled back level, before Banović and Perono finally won it outright.
International would not be able to stop scoring against French Division Four club FC Mercenaires either, though they were the ones who set the pace this time, in a 8-4 victory. Likewise against Northern Irish Premier representatives Turuturu2 next, as
Fausto Perono and company racked up a five-goal lead, before Filip Gorsner saved some blushes aided by former Dutch youth international, Sem van Hall.
This has International in 627th position, and while the knockout stages remain unlikely, the players aren't letting that get them down. "We're going for the points - the wonks can do the math later."
Wang Chu Chi declared.
