Not So Far
Although the Birds would lose their final two fixtures in the Trophy of Legends, finishing 723rd with a 23-15 goal record as a result, this was far from a letdown from who they were up again, and how tight both games were. A 1-2 loss to the newly-crowned Austrian double winners Churchhill United could surely not be said to be disreputable, and
Gústav Thoroddsen wasn't too far from putting the Birds ahead in the eighth minute, were it nor for Lukas Sunk's superlative reflexes. Axel Aymard had Churchhill up by the 26th, however, as
Dimitris Germanakos became by far the more engaged of the two goalies.
A switch to a more physical and straight-ahead style paid off for Grilled in the second half, with Kenyan national sweeper Daniel Ndururi eventually overloaded, and
Brian Reddy swooped to delicately place the equalizer past Sunk in the 65th. A draw was very much on the cards, until Thoroddsen got booked for a late takedown with seven minutes left. The Austrians went up in numbers for the free-kick, and Estanislao Tejada got the decisive goal after Pietro Testagrossa bent it in from the right flank.
That left the Birds out of contention for the final sixty-four, but they would have another worthy opponent forthcoming, in the form of reigning Belgian Ruby Challenger Cup holders, SuparSporting. The Division Three side also had a Consolation Cup to boast of, and they were like Churchhill a cut above everywhere except perhaps midfield and central attack. Juul Beeckman slashed the opener past Germanakos in the 24th, but it was actually the Birds who were the more dangerous as the first half drew to a close, with
Chad Thach giving Leendert Beuselinck more than a few scares with his trigger-happiness.
An upset became unlikely once Abdulbaqy Abdulhadi Al-Rahby former Omani international youth fullback gave an overworked
Paulino Trindade the slip seven minutes into the new half, but Grilled kept plugging away, to the evident satisfaction of
Tian Yonghang on the sidelines.
Mohd Marzuki Khairul was perhaps unlucky not to have one of his fine efforts get through, but
Gústav Thoroddsen would eventually recover some honour for Grilled Birds, as he timed his run against Adnan Alabalik to near perfection.
"Churchhill United and SuparSporting have both won national trophies this season, and are not too far off our own S-League sides, if I say so myself." Tian declared. "This shows that we are really not all that far away!"
The Buns fared better in absolute terms as they finished 463rd, if by scoring just seven goals but conceding just four in return. They started off with a good win against Italian VI.627 club IFK Klackspark, if again by the single goal.
Prakash Bhujbal, who had taken over in central midfield after
Mauro Fau's ankle complaint, was responsible for the 42nd minute winner against the red-and-whites, as he outbattled the slight Zenone Righini on Klackspark's left.
A one-all draw would then conclude Farmer Bunnies' campaign, as they spammed Polish VI.684 challengers PŚK Kielce with sharp counters throughout the first hour or so, with
Vitaliy Efendiev guilty of spurning more than a few open looks. In the end, it would be Sylwester Książka to score after being senselessly left alone as the Buns pushed three minutes into the second half, but
Amirul Jufri Khairil matched that with an excellent header from a complicated free-kick routine.
Not quite so Grilled International, who had to accept a losing 3-0-5 record, and a -4 goal difference to boot. Italian seventh divisioner champions Sporting Nanoni gave the unbalanced International little enough respect as they raced to a 3-0 victory, with International far too careless in committing men forward; given that
Chua Jun Long wasn't on top of his game either, this was hopeless for them.
They did at least enjoy a winning exit against Hungarian V.82 outfit Gyulai Perlaki Fc, which came as Chua regained his imperious form.
Safari bin Hj Jali shaking the crossbar with a monster left-footer before three minutes had passed had to be a good sign, and Chua together with
Phua Li Kong had International two up by the 31st. Chua was back at it again as he sat by the back post anticipating a free-kick 78 minutes in, and
Redhuan bin Mohd Aleshahfezan completed the job with a strong run three minutes from time.
