Day Two Delight
Grilled Birds put themselves right back into playoff contention in the Trophy of Legends, with three high-scoring victories. Ten goals against REAL SARANDY would lead into a 9-1 win against Italian Division Six club Radiance, in which
Kalle ter Berg pulled out all the stops with four from open play. It might have been a clean sheet too, had Nicola Appio not gone through at the end with Grilled's defence apparently having mistaken the final whistle.
Jānis Salmiņš wasn't at all amused.
That was a minor nitpick given the circumstances, and the Birds carried on against another Italian club in FC Digitalcom, who were formely of the Serie A, and now out to regain their former glory from Division Four.
Sølve Lunde scored his first for the club with a neat half-volley, while Ter Berg sunk into insubordination from his previous high. 5-1 was the outcome, with Salmiņš conceding from Danilo Cvetković's fearless lob this time.
Grilled's day ended with an 8-3 smashing of German II.2 side Torpedo Düsseldorf, as the three-time Bundesliga runners-up finally fell off after their second wind ended with an equalizer in the 55th minute. The Birds would strike five times in the last half-hour, helped greatly by Hugo Lamnek's dismissal for a vicious shove on Lunde from behind, as they climbed for a high ball. Still, it was a mixed showing for Grilled's record defensive signing, as he was wholly responsible for Sandro Köhler-Saftig's goal.
Farmer Bunnies conceded nothing this day in their tourney, but would drop points in a forgettable nil-all against Brazilian fifth divisioners Engenheiros Futebol Clube - and that despite being the ones pushing the initiative. A bore walkover against German V.223 holdouts Die absoluten Amateure would be next, before some actual action in Moscow versus Anortosis.
Nurlan Ablaev's pace was on full display with two first-half strikes, before
Mushtag Al-Nameeri and
Vishnu Tallapaka had their turns, for a 4-0 result.
Bunnies would also chalk up a win in the V For Victory Cup, as they saw off Belize III.11 competitors Black Pirates FC with goals from
Ibrahim Zahran Al-Maashany,
Nguyễn Văn Chương and
Vishnu Tallapaka, that last three minutes from time. However, they remain ten points off the pace in fourth, and it remains hard to imagine how they can make up the difference.
International, against most expectations, had a stellar second day too, beginning with a 6-2 over Spanish Division Six hopefuls veteranos del eume. They would lead at the end of the first half after Loïc Vanpeperstraete and Sven Geßele overturned
Tibor Atzenhain's 28th minute dazzler, but the German forward had their number; he equalized in the 60th minute, and would go on to complete his hat-trick with a cheeky chip in the 74th.
Atzenhain kept on with two more goals in International's 8-0 whitewash of Chilean V.232 club serenamar, same as
Fausto Perono and
Wang Chu Chi, as Salvatore Sanhueza got sent off for a second yellow after 64 minutes. It was then Perono's time to break out the treble, in a 7-2 blockbuster versus the black-and-blues of Italian H.I. Division Five LA DEA 1976.
