Olympian Feat
Hovaness Noubaryan, watching from the stands, could only shake his head at how the friendly played out.
"Zero tactical discipline, poor tracking back, little communication... there will be a lot to go over in the next training session. But it was fun to watch, I'll give you that."
Meanwhile, the Farmer Bunnies entered the quarterfinals of the Sapphire Challenger Cup, after surviving a long, gruelling encounter against third division leaders Olympic Sentosa. Santiago Folchs was a surprise exclusion from the Olympic Sentosa squad, but they took the lead anyway through Jordanian forward Kalil Qasim Azzam in the eighth minute.
Sim Leng Cheng excelled as the Buns' target man in all ways but one, as he waged a one-man vendetta on the opposition goal, only to be denied by a combination of inspired goalkeeping and the goalframe. Fortunately,
Lau Chang Wan found an equaliser from a trick free-kick in the 53rd minute, but a gruesome collision between
Wong Ting Yew and Ingolf Dreisbach saw the match cool off, with all involved satisfied with seeing extra time.
Vivian Grubenmann saved Azzam's shot on target in the 111st minute, which had little else going for it, and he would go on to be a hero in the shootout. He even scored against Ramiro Ipenarrieta with the Buns' fourth take, a favour Ipenarrieta returned, and
Sim Leng Cheng held his nerve to keep Buns alive.
With all of the first ten takers having found the net, the shootout went sudden death, and Grubenmann would stop Eugen Budică's well-hit effort to his left.
Jon Benson then put it down the middle to earn Farmer Bunnies a rematch with Oneteamtoplay.
It was far less of a nail-biter for Grilled International as they beat Sweden's Fuzzy Dunlop 4-0 in the H.I. Emerald Challenger Cup, with
Abdul Hamid bin Hj Ali Timbang following his hat-trick up with a good brace. He wasn't even supposed to be playing, having come off the bench only due to an early freak injury to
Tommy Dongelmans.
Osertz Indurain, who claimed the opener from an Abdul Hamid assist, was all praise for G.I.'s hottest property of the moment. "He's in his element right now."
