Hitting Some Humps
With the end-of-season tournaments being revamped from ten games to eight, the Birds made the most of the relaxed schedule to remain undefeated in their first three fixtures. Austrian fifth division FC Klöch were first to challenge Grilled in their orange-and-blacks, and wound up playing out a five-all epic in which their national striker Christian Neubauer found a brace.
Chan Ze Han matched him goal for goal, however, and
Islom Davlatov would sign off after Marco Cappelletti's bid for the winner off a lovely corner.
Grilled would then smash Estonian Division Four club Fc Rajaleidjad five to nothing, bolstered by
Cyril Künzler's hat-trick. This set up a clash with former Belgian second division winners Heavy Camels, who opened after just four minutes through big Dutchman Sacha van Wijngaarden.
Kalki Parvathaneni equalized and
Florus Romijn dithered, before
Chan Ze Han kept up his streak with a 59th minute tap-in. van Wijngaarden would craft a brilliant solo effort after some tactical reshufflings, though, and the Birds were probably happier to take the draw by the final whistle.
The Farmer Bunnies started strongly in the Heroes of 2014 Trophy tourney, first bumping Colombian Division Three team Deportivo Recochanboys thanks to a super
Jon Benson free-kick, this coming after
Kwek Yun Jie's opener had been cancelled by José María Cardozo as the Recochanboys flooded the Buns' box. A 4-0 wipeout of Italy's Real Caruscino was next, with
Sofian Azfar shining with a double, and Caruscino toothless after Sebastian Melillo was dropped.
Polish fourth divisioners Muflony Tarnów were something else altogether, as Farmer Bunnies found themselves done in by Jarkko Holck's thirty-yard wonder in the 39th minute. No goalie in the world could have done anything about that, and that included
Vivian Grubenmann. The Buns tried to stage a comeback, but Muflony knew how to shut up shop, and Azfar's 50th minute mistake on a developing counter was as much as they had to face.
In contrast, International began with a loss, as they were defeated 2-3 by Spanish Division Six club DADES C.F., although
Wang Chu Chi impressed with two neat goals and several potential assists; Rafael Moral was no less effective for DADES.
G.I. would improve with a 2-2 draw with Hungarian Division Five side Robertopizzéria, which was spoilt by
Adam Killick's unexplainable sending-off in the 62nd minute that let the opponents back in. International would finally taste victory against Boldmongolerne81, with
Wang Hanxuan's 14th minute strike on a jerry-rigged free-kick proving to be sufficient.