Bad Debt To Settle
Hilal Bakhtiar's first concern would be the condition of
Jānis Salmiņš, and the head coach was happy to report that it was a minor sprain to his right calf. "We will be monitoring him closely, and chances are fair that he can make it back by Sunday's league game. For a moment, I feared we had a Grubenmann situation on our hands, like the Farmer Bunnies are suffering."
There were a couple of upsets as the Singapore Cup quarterfinalists were determined, with -= Manchester United =-'s already-disastrous season crashing to a 0-3 whitewash by Villains F.C.; Crypto Moon would also collapse after tasting defeat by the Birds, as they were destroyed 0-5 by St. Xavier's FC, with Argentine veteran Sebastián Javier Amalfitani bagging a brace.
Club captain
Moey Xin Seng had good cause to be extra wary of the Villians, after they had eliminated Grilled in this round just last season. "Villains F.C. are one of the few clubs with a winning record against us, and while we should be favoured still, this is all the more reason to be careful next week."
The Buns would banish the loss of their first-choice goalkeeper to the back of their collective minds, as they pulled off double 5-0 sweeps, first in the V For Victory Cup, and then in their midweek friendly.
Xue Kangfang would open and close the scoring against Haiti third divisioners RC Haïtien for the former, which confirmed them fourth place in the 16-team league. Hoppi Bake Bieke Bikkels would finally overtake FC Polonia-Neutrina Bydgoszcz at the top, after FC Polonia were upset by Furax Barback, and the Curaçao representatives should be crowned tournament champions next week, barring any further surprises.
A home friendly at Carrot Field would see Mongolian III.16 side Cunning Lynx as the Buns' first visitors for the season, and they would not prove overly-generous hosts, with it being
Richard Agyei's turn to get two goals.
Rashid Nasir al Din will be pleased with his two clean sheets, but by his own admission, they were a little unearned. "I barely had to do anything."
Grilled International would however have to accept their ejection from the H.I. Ruby Challenger Cup, with
Tibor Atzenhain being sent off after 54 minutes in their contest against Indian V.166 leaders, Mathushanky's Spirit. International had gone ahead through
Yao Erguo's scrappy put-in, 27 minutes in, but their lack of discipline had them hit twice on the break before half-time. János Czidor added the final blow right as regular time ended, with
Subhi bin Hj Ahmad having just come agonizingly close to a free-kick equalizer.
Atzenhain would freely apologize for leaving the team a man short, and would make some amends by helping International advance into the quarterfinals of the Super League tourney. Argentine Division Five outfit Hallam Football Club demonstrated great willpower, but
Fausto Perono's 55th minute chip would finally leave them behind, with the game finishing 4-3 to the Brunei club.
