Perfect Second Day
It got even better for the Birds, who won all three of their fixtures on Day Two of the Trophy of Legends. Portuguese Division Five club Nelas were the first in their way, and Grilled were 1-0 up at half-time thanks to Chia Kwang Tse, with Phua Ming Xin having come close twice. Fabrice Wullschleger equalized in the 66th minute by a deflection off Ha Qicai, but the fresh pair of Evandro La Face and Gústav Thoroddsen both struck in the 78th minute for the win.
German VII.372 side Die Opiumbrigade, who have won all three of Germany's lower-division Challenger Cups and the Goldene-Ananas-Pokal twice besides, then shocked Dimitris Germanakos from a superb Andy Brehme long shot from over twenty yards. Joe Reece and Orest Tokarz answered for 2-1, however. Finally, it was Chia Kwang Tse to the rescue with a timely brace after Swiss IV.9 participants FC Indy looked to ride on veteran Bedřich Polák's rocket, as the Number 25 secured Grilled's fifth win in the tournament.
That had the Birds as high as 107th going into the seventh round, and well in touch of a possible last-64 finish. "I'm not going to like, I'm pretty excited." wing star Brian Reddy commented. "This team is gelling very well!"
There were a lot of ones in store for the Buns, who started off modestly with a 1-0 victory over Barcelona's Sagrera City FC. The Spanish VII.243 outfit were admittedly not offering much of a challenge offensively, but Farmer Bunnies still had to rely on a penalty gift in the 16th minute to take this, that loyally converted by
Vitaliy Efendiev. The Buns were then on the receiving end of the same from Polish V.191 side Żuleks Squad, who had Italian striker Omar Dal Farra volley one home in the fifth minute, with Efendiev continually denied by Alirio Planes.
It would be one apiece when the Buns met Dutch V.109 champions Ratatouille FC, who offered a formidable test attributable to their impressive attack, anchored by former Trinidad & Tobago youth international Dwayne Robertson. Robertson made one for strike partner Ignazio Sitzmann in the 33rd, and the Buns would have to flail about until Lim Guang Qiang equalized from a right-sided counter forty minutes on.
Grilled International's fortunes took a turn for the worse as they crashed hard, in contrast with the Birds, as Swiss VI.528 club NETNODE took them for three in a rainy morning - though to be fair, NETNODE had just won their league after seven consecutive wins. Some familiar names would be next, as Singaporean II.4 representatives Crypto Moon limbered up for their S-League qualifier, with a 2-1 result. Phua Li Kong did International proud with a great solo finish, although Leri Bezhanishvili will have to reconsider his concentration, after being at fault for both of Crypto Moon's goals.
The Georgian midfielder will at least have international commitments as an excuse, which the rest of the squad did not have, as they then went belly-up against Dutch Division Six opponents Red & White Boys. After Arvi Takkunen and István Benkovics grabbed two towards the end of the first half,
Chua Jun Long kept International in touch from a neat through ball by Egidius van der Duin. Sadly, Sebastiaan Wayenberg got it to 3-1 on a 58th minute counter, and that was it.