Bunnies' Dreams Sealed
As again, the Farmer Bunnies drew a higher viewership than the Birds, though their bid to return to Division Three was dashed as Dream Seals; one-club man Su Chuanhao struck from the penalty spot, and then off a free-kick on the edge of the box.
Enzo Paolo Panzarino made his debut right after the interval, but
Milán Bolgár failed to get his strikes past the imposing Marek Sedlák.
Defensive midfielder
Sikong Darong, who proved to be among the Bunnies' most mobile players despite his advancing years, was nevertheless content with the outcome. "They couldn't get through in open play. Our defending from set pieces could be improved, however."
In the S-League, both home teams won their qualification games. To begin with, Pearl Divers came back from 1-3 down to overwhelm Scallop Soccer Team 5-3, in a clash billed as a skirmish on the seas. Scallop had bested a star-studded cast in II.2 to earn their shot at the top flight, and were very much in it until the disastrous 75th minute.
Then, their combustible German left winger Markus Diefenthal got into a war of words with Vano Adamiani as they waited for the substitutes to come on, which ended with Diefenthal shoving his opponent away. It was a very silly red card to concede, and after Jorge Valtierra suffered a concussion the very next minute, Scallop found it extremely difficult to attack.
There was far less excitement over at Lest We Forget, with United Warrior Team taking Arrogancae by six goals in a straightforward romp. Robert Malik and Jordan McCleary hit braces as the II.3 winners seemed very much under the weather, and the Warriors should be hoping to improve on their position in the season to come.
