Grilled Birds 6 - 2
Haha 
Atop The Pinnacle
Hovaness Noubaryan could not stop grinning at Grilled's giant-slaying feat, which sees them matched against double holders Parkway Paladins next. "I'm just going to say the same thing as I last did - we're up for it, and we can prevail."
The reliably-vocal
Moey Xin Seng doubled up on his head coach's statement. "I do hope they think hard about which fronts they should prioritize, because we're not having any second thoughts about that!"
Farmer Bunnies would crash out against United Legends FC, however, as
Ibrahim Zahran Al-Maashany's unavailability played straight into their opponents' hands. Faced with that reality,
Sikong Darong decided to split time between his remaining main strikers, with
Abderahim Bentellis taking the first half, and
Enzo Paolo Panzarino the second.
Bentellis certainly did his part with an exceptional poach in the 17th minute, but the Buns' highly-touted defence fell apart as they practically invited Laurent Goucher in to score in the 30th. A corner conversion by Nivaldo Maia followed, and Eduard Nicoli made it 3-1 by imposing himself in the 37th minute.
The two-goal lead gave Mortan Petersen enough confidence to start resting players, and the Buns indeed could not muster enough offensive intent to threaten Legends despite that.
Wong Ting Yew came closest after 75 minutes, when his point-blank take from a corner was denied on the line by Hüsamettin Mergen, and Vojislav Vukosavljević left no doubt with his successful penalty following that.
The Buns are now drawn against Division Two side Sim(TM) in the Sapphire Challenger Cup, and Sikong for one refused to dwell too long on the defeat. "Legends had an excellent ten minute stretch, but what's over is over. There's a strong field in the Sapphire Cup, and it'll be a worthy challenge too."
As for Grilled International, it's back to midweek friendlies, after they were edged by Spain's Asturias Utd by four goals to three, in the H.I. version. A Gian Franco Pegurri hat-trick sealed it for Asturias, with International's haul coming from
Osertz Indurain (two) and
Fausto Perono.
Micky bin Kadir rued not being able to put his 80th minute opening away, but was consoled by the arrival of his new strike mate. "Fausto's a friendly guy when you get to know him, but more importantly, he's a demon when he receives the ball within fifteen yards of goal. You have to be there, to feel the intensity."
