Immaculate As Before
Grilled Birds were as unreproachable as they had been in the Trophy of Legends, as they kicked off the Supporter Week Trophy with four straight wins on the first day. Droogs United FC of the H.I. V.209 were pitted against the Birds in the first round, and the Venezuelans were demolished in the first half, with
Moey Xin Seng opening after two minutes, and
Bernie Egan mopping up a free-kick in the 40th; Polish fullback Bartosz Łatkowski did puncture
Jānis Salmiņš's pride with a magical chip to make a 6-1, after which Eduardo Duarte received marching orders for rough play.
The fans were wondering if Egan's goal run could ever stop, and it did in the next game at Italian sixth divisioners romualda, where Moey, Webb and Mudaliar scored, but not the Irish hotshot. Egan would be back in business against Israeli Division Three favourites India Power, who were then crushed 0-7, but overall it was Moey who had caught the imagination this day. He racked up a hat-trick against Swiss Division Five club Holmes 21, in a tough 5-3 victory.
These matches also saw the return of
Kalle ter Berg and
Wu Jinglong, who looked to have put their respective back and groin concerns behind them, as they sparkled as late substitutes. "We have been missing them a lot." defender
Mateja Jeftić remarked. "Here's to all staying healthy from here on."
The Buns weren't too shabby either, as they reaped three wins and a draw. Just-promoted Spanish Division Six side R.C.D. Tomás Mingot were only too defensively sound, and took
Lim Su Liang anticipating Omar Novoa's backpass in the 21st minute to break down. A one-all draw against Austrian V.208 representatives Kosmos Wien was next, as Vítor Jorge Lira's invention with nine minutes left, cancelled a previous
Vishnu Tallapaka free-kick.
Bunnies improved after a slow startup, and continued with wins by two goals, even if Italian sixth divisioners F.K. Divano Kiev made it easier with Konrad Bahowski's first-half sending-off, leading to a 1-3 final result; Bergen Flyers FC of the Norwegian IV.27 were then hit on the corner and counter by Camperio and Tallapaka respectively, as they tried to match the Buns at their own game.
They also stayed in third spot in the V for Victory Cup meanwhile, with the week's haul being a 4-0 thumping of Belize III.11 side Black Pirates FC.
Ibrahim Zahran Al-Maashany was on fire early on, bagging his two goals by the 29th, with additional contributions by
Billy Camperio and
Lau Chang Wan in an otherwise quite boring takedown.
Grilled International would exchange pleasantries with Swiss fifth divisioners RFC Eichmatt before their clash, and it would be the sly Zug-based team who would be the more prepared, as they shut down International's frontline to perfection in a 4-1 win. Not to be demoralized, International came back strong against Hungarian V.126 club Rapid Spari, with
Tibor Atzenhain striking twice together with Perono and Indurain, for a 4-0 sweep.
A 9-1 crushing of Brazilian Division Five side S.C. ANTENA 1 was next, in which Pedro Saúl Mardini saved some blushes with a consolation, but French V.123 club St-Mandé FC then had International finish the day with an indifferent two wins and two losses.
Sazwan bin Hj Muhd Salleh had International 3-2 up in the 41st minute, but St-Mandé assumed control in the second half, and Hugo Drouet completed the turnaround in the 83rd with a stellar piece of shooting from the right flank.