Padova Punishment
There would be some catching-up between unofficial assistant coach
Tian Yonghang and some ArseVikings officials he knew after the contest, and the Grilled legend wished the Vikings the best, in their II.2 quest. "They should be winning a Division Two title and going for the S-League soon, given their history. Garre and Porciani fought hard today, but just didn't have the service to make it count."
Well, some bigger guns are already starting to get thrown together, though the round has also seen a few upsets, the most prominent perhaps Random Curiosity FC's exit to CE Sindiket 07 after an extended penalty sequence. The Birds will face recent S-League rivals -= Manchester United =- in the fifth round, after United mercilessly spanked Talpons 5-0.
"We need no reminding of what they're capable of."
Moey Xin Seng said. "Not only that, without the pressure of making it in the top flight, they may be even more dangerous than back then."
The Farmer Bunnies advanced in cup competition too, as they dismissed downtown club Singapore Red Dragons by three goals to nil, in the Ruby Challenger Cup.
Vitaliy Efendiev sent a free-kick in just under the bar in the 20th minute, with Bulgarian goalie Georgi Kirov going on to concede two more to
Djoko Tambusai's eye for goal. The closest they came was a 36th minute thirty-yarder by Dutchman Deryll Sewgolam, that troubled
Gilberto Sorondo more than he cared to admit.
The fixture would moreover cost the Dragons three of their men, with Seah Yeng Hock and Carlos Codes falling prey to freak shoulder injuries in the first half, after throwing themselves into strong challenges. Vitomil Bošnjak would at least have his foot hurt through more traditional means later on, with Efendiev being the culprit there.
It didn't go as well for Grilled International, however, as they were outclassed 2-7 by Italian H.I. III.7 leaders, Padova 1973. The Venice club had gone into this on six straight wins, and there was soon little doubt that they would make it a seventh, with Ciro Damiani and Federico Demartini building their attack off a rock-solid defence.
Ragib Banović and
Wang Chu Chi put up some late resistance, but International were by then five goals down.
The fans were at least more understanding about this, than last Friday's league shutout. "What to do, they were clearly better than us." attending diehard Firdaus Hafiz frowned. "That makes it a bit easier to accept."
