Dragons Dismissed
Eren Serpin was ebullient at Grilled's opening day result. "Yes, I didn't expect this - but it just goes to show that if we work hard and play to our potential, we can get a result from most any club. Kalki was immense on the left side, but he was hardly the only of our guys who performed today."
The 3-0 win was only good enough for third place in the table, however, with next opponents Ramseille Volliard FC shooting into the lead after wiping Tecos Foreign Legion 5-0, from a perfectly-executed counterattacking gameplan. Haha for their part defeated Club Dinosauria 4-1 following Ivo Mana's go-ahead goal for the hosts, through much the same tactics.
Although UDNTK FC did fail their attempt at the same against -= Manchester United =- in a 0-3 loss, Serpin recognized that operating on the counter has become one of the most popular approaches in the league. "And why not?" he questioned. "It's probably easier to build a great defence than a comparable attack, and then the latter has to do all the thinking. Then again, Farmer Bunnies' experience might suggest that it has its limitations - not that we can have a go at it anyway."
About the Buns, they did struggle somewhat in a 3-2 win against Sentosa's former Sapphire Challenger Cup winners Dragon Devil's, whose goals came from former national youth international playmaker Lee Wai Yeow. Fortunately for Bunnies, they had
Nurlan Ablaev,
Djoko Tambusai and finally
Vishnu Tallapaka on target, though the hosts might feel somewhat hard done by Tallapaka's penalty.
As with Grilled, Farmer Bunnies would rest in third spot after the first round, after Galactic Eagles CF thrashed the Hachiman Hoppers 6-0, and The EV smashed Joker 9 4-0. East Coast giants Arrogancae would get a valuable away win against Lawrence, KS FC from Tim D'Agostino's stormer, but the cost was Tim D'Agostino and Þorbergur Valbergsson lost to short-term injuries, and Gisbert Odewald sustaining a late red card.
International would kick off their return to the fourth division on a losing note, as they were downed 2-3 by former H.I. Consolation Cup winners 93 Cat's. Fabrizio Giuseppini starred with a brace, though both International's main forwards in
Ragib Banović and
Fausto Perono did score.
Chua Jun Long would be held in reserve again, after a substitute appearance for the Brunei U-20, in a 3-0 win over Northern Ireland.
The pressure is certainly starting to really pile on Norwegian head coach
Roar Olaisen, whose inspirational influence on his squad seems to have been noticeably reduced over the past few seasons. "The boardroom isn't saying much, but if I were Olaisen, I'd be keeping an eye out for other options." one analyst would comment.
