Franssen Feature
Grilled Birds' latest Trophy of Legends adventure began with a shocking upset, as Dutch IV.52 representatives franssen juniors battled their way to a 4-3 win.
Teo Chuan Yong's newfound taste for goal reemerged with his 24th minute sweep home of
Heng Dong Chu's assist, but
Gilbert Webb would have reason to rue his several free-kick misses, as Damian Neve had Franssen in the lead by the 64th. The entry of Matthys van Goolen and Jernst Tuinenburg came just in time for
Bernie Egan's equalizer, but were worth it in the end, as
Chan Ze Han's brilliant reducer came too late.
Moey Xin Seng put the slip down to weariness, while not taking too much from the Birds' opponents. "They were up for it far more than we were, and Mees Leeman was immense in goal for them. Fair play."
Grilled recovered with a 7-0 whipping of German Division Six side Bluecity 04 next, after they were hobbled by Rudolf-Heinz Janik's 14th minute dismissal for shoving Chan over once he was through - which didn't even prevent the Number Eleven from scoring. Chan, Egan and Bilal would have braces by the end, with Heng also managing a chip. Next, Antonio Gerardo Pongolini had a brilliant second-minute opener for Finnish fifth division club Fc Shrews, only for them to be hit for six by the end.
The in-transition Bunnies started the stronger, against all expectations, beginning their campaign with two 4-1 victories: first against Colombian Division Four runners-up Gorilas Dorados FC., and then De beuk er in of the Dutch Division Five. The 38 year-old
Vishnu Tallapaka proved as crucial as ever, slinging three of those goals in from set pieces, while
Richard Agyei - now rightfully a senior team leader at 28 - grabbed two of his own.
They would then go on to be edged by German V.256 champions SV Treffsicher Babelsberg, who responded to a late second yellow for Declan Couperwhite, to find an 85th minute winner through Turkish wide man Meriç Eroğlu.
Nguyễn Văn Chương's strong first-half performance wouldn't come good, and Tallapaka's 73rd minute free-kick went straight to Boudewijn Vennix.
Grilled International reversed the Buns' performance with two high-scoring defeats to begin with, the first to Portuguese V.2 winners DivinosFC, who ran up a 3-0 lead by half an hour; a brave rally had International back to 3-5 down with fourteen minutes left, only for Jerónimo Matos to hammer the final nail in injury time. They then came closer against Kyrgyzstan H.I. Division Five side Feitzis All Stars, only to again be clipped back late by Cape Verde defender Romeu Guilherme, who bent the winning free-kick past
Querubim Santos Couto.
International would finally beat Dutch VI.291 strugglers Hoed, whose defensive outlook was again insufficient to see them through;
Li Xin Chi and
Osertz Indurain converted from scrappy corners, with a
Tibor Atzenhain penalty in between, to make a 3-0 result. Still, head coach
Didi Reidenbach could not be said to be pleased, as he considered the day's happenings. "We haven't learnt much from the past season, so it seems."
