Bels Take Toll
The second day of the Supporter Week Trophy saw Grilled Birds unbeaten, as they started with a 2-1 victory over German IV.58 side FC Brainless Berlin, that had Amiran Natriashvili reply first-half efforts by
Gandhik Chitre and
Raúl Himadas. They ended with a 3-2 win against the white and blue stripes of Greek III.7 club NIKH VOLOU, as second-half sub
Aw Keng Chuan became an unlikely hero with a brace to match former Indonesian national winger Ridho Slamet, after
Lim An Keng had sniped Ysbrand Deruytere's top corner in the 28th minute.
It was the middle game that drew by far the most recaps, though, with Sri Lankan III.14 favourites Three Lanka Bels notching up a 5-5 draw, courtesy of ex-Estonian U-20 international forward Asser Pang in injury time. Florin Pop beat
Radomil Marcol after two minutes after a Himadas slip, but
Brian Reddy and
Mohd Marzuki Khairul reversed to 2-1 by the 32nd, only for Alessandro Maria Visini to wrest a goal back - and Reddy to answer immediately for the Birds to be up 3-2 by half-time.
It was Asser Pang's time, though, and neither of the Grilled defenders quite knew what to do with the imposing character, who scored twice in four minutes for the match to swing the Bels' way again.
Gandhik Chitre and
Darko Andrović would then exploit the tiring Lankans on swift breaks up both wings, but their opponents would muster one last push, from which Pang completed his hat-trick.
The Buns would taste their first defeat in the tourney in the sixth round, after they had eased past VI.1009 leaders SV Bayreuth with
Gabriel Priebe doing the trick again in the 40th minute. They then finally met more than their match in H.I. III.12 club Olli Town, with the Suriname sluggers putting three past
Gilberto Sorondo. Former Colombian U-20 star David Andrés Bilicic headed home from a fifth-minute corner, which opened the way for Tomáš Plešinger and Charles Millon to punish Bunnies from distance.
The Buns were again shaken early in their final match of the day at German V.15 outfit SV Radolfsburg, with Number Ten Henrik Christoph Schatten getting the tip of his boot to Pascal Weckhorft's hurried cross in the eleventh minute. It could have been worse, but Weckhorft failed to capitalize on a Lim Guan Qiang error 40 minutes in, before
Dušan Václavík likewise neglected a late chance to equalize.
There would be big swings for Grilled International, as they got off to a rocking start by hammering Oceanian V.93 challengers Undertaker Fc 7-1, with
Leri Bezhanishvili grabbing a treble, and young Czech midfielder Josef Gurecký saving his team some blushes. It was then International's turn to be given a dressing-down, as Polish V.138 club BRX Hazard Lublin rode a stout defence to emerge 5-0 winners, despite having forward Edward Wodzisławski sent off in the 60th minute for deliberate handball.
International did recover quickly in their final test against the red-clad Szolo FC from Budapest, who are currently in the Hungarian IV.2. After successive bookings for
Leri Bezhanishvili and
Stef Vreys about the 18th minute,
Phua Li Kong folded a left-wing cross home in the 34th, which was soon followed by strikes by
Redhuan bin Mohd Aleshahfezan and then Bezhanishvili - who had set Redhuan up - within the next three minutes.